Gakuren Akiyama: The Griffin of the Leaf Village
by Funtom65
Summary: Gakuren Akiyama, set out to the Leaf Village to train fro the day he reunites with his brother;Moon Akiyama who killed the entire Akiyama clan, leaving Gakuren alive. While he trains & teams up with the trio Sakura, Sasuke & Naruto, he meets all kinds of ninja & gets stronger all the while preparing for the Chunin Exam. What will happen once the two brothers meet?
1. The Beginning

Okay, I know it's a lot like Sasuke's story but, read farther and you'll see Gakuren ISN'T like Sasuke at all.

CHAPTER 1:

I was running through the dark streets with a huge grin in my face. Kai just gave me a new toy!

I have to show mom and dad. I turned to the next street and was greeted by our houses' thick wooden gates.

Our whole clan lives in this mansion along with our servants and guards. It was unusually quiet so I slowed down. But, even though I kept a slower pace, I was panting like a dog.

As I walked up the gates, excitement ran up my spine. Once I opened the gates, it was completely dark which was _very_ strange since it was already 8pm; this place should look like a museum full of lights right now.

And with the howling, cold wind, it was really scary. I silently walked through the other houses and headed to the main house.

I pulled the sliding door's knob and stepped into the dark hallway. The floorboards creaked quietly as I looked around.

I knit my brows, wondering what was going on.

Our servants should be greeting me right now and mom should be scolding me for coming home late. I was shaking with tight breaths.

Once I reached the first room to my right, my aunt's and uncle's room- I froze as my heart stopped, my throat itching to let go of a scream.

There was the color of crimson red…everywhere.

I couldn't move. I was too shaken. I stumbled backwards but I heard something drip when I raised my right foot. I slowly looked down and realized I stepped in the red liquid.

I gasped, wide-eyed. I slowly backed away, looking around frantically with my heart beating wildly, my chest started to hurt.

This is absolutely horrid; my heart sank. Whoever did this might be still here. I wanted to run away so badly, but I had to check on my parents.

I then mustered up the courage and turned to the door in the middle of the hallway.

I took each step slowly, not daring to make a sound. The main house was the place where my whole clan stayed at-Everyone. I dared to look at all the rooms to see if anyone was there and if anyone was still alive.

All the doors were left open and at my left, the wall was webbed with cracks as if something really hard hit it.

All the rooms I passed were the same, red everywhere. Each glance I gave at the lifeless bodies of my family members, my heart sank as my eyes teared up. Who could do such a thing?!

I then reached my parents room, swallowing my fear. I stepped into the room, my legs shaking. Once I stepped on the wooden floor, I almost fell on my knees.

My mom was lying on her back, lying in the red liquid. I stared hard at her. She wasn't breathing.

Falling on my knees, I sobbed silently with my hands covering my mouth and the tears running down my face like a river.

As my eyes were frantically searching for the killer, my eyes fell on a tall, dark figure standing in front of my mom's body. The person looked familiar and I stared hard at the figure.

My eyes grew soft and I was about to burst into tears.

"Dad?" I squeaked with a smile filled with amazing relief on my face. I forced myself to move and I ran to him, not stepping over mom, and tightly hugged my dad's stomach.

"Dad….what's going on?! We have to leave!" I sobbed, tugging on his arm.

...*drip*

I froze as I felt the cold liquid drip on my forearms.

"Huh?" I mumbled and pulled away from dad. I stood under the moonlight and almost screamed.

Blood. There was blood on my arm. I started shaking again and looked up at dad.

"dad, blood..." I muttered and dad slowly turned to me. Once he turned, I gasped and started crying again.

He had blood all over his Japanese robes and from the edge of his mouth. But that wasn't what frightened me the most.

His chest was all bloodied and, where his heart was supposed to be, there was a gaping hole and the red color started to turn his blue robes into the same color.

"D...dad...?" I muttered, shaking but paralyzed. Looking up at his eyes, they were completely lifeless.

"Dad..." I sobbed this time, not knowing what to do.

"Gaku...ren..."

My eyes widened. Dad's still alive!

He looked down at me with soft and gentle, fatherly eyes, making me cry even more.

"Run..." He whispered and when I thought he'd fall on me, he fell past me, landing on the floor. I stared ahead, astonished from all I've seen.

I'm alone. I've never felt so alone and it hurt so much. I grit my teeth and wilted down, crying my eyes out and gently hugged dad and mom's bodies.

Suddenly, I felt so...tense and even more scared than how I already was.

There was a big window in their room and it let the bright moonlight through. From the shadows at the opposite of where I was, a foot emerged until I saw a man with ninja clothes covered in blood, he had a katana in his hands that was coated with blood. Looking up, I saw his face.

He had white ivory skin like me and long purple bangs that were slightly parted so you could see his now red eyes full of hate and malice. It was my big brother; Moon. He stared at me with an expressionless face and I immediately shot up my feet.

"You-did-did you..." I asked him with a low voice. I couldn't even spit out the words 'did you do this?' I was shaking. I _knew_ he did this. Glancing down at his hand, I saw it was covered in blood.

I just couldn't believe it. He was my brother.

He loved the clan and he was one of the best griffins in Extail. How could he do such a thing?!

At that moment, I felt anger grow in me-anger I can't even describe. I clenched my fist and grit my teeth.

He stared at me with the same expressionless face.

"Well? You were saying?" he asked with a low voice filled with amusement. I can't believe it. He was actually_mocking_ me?

"How could you? What's wrong with you?! They're our family! You're sick!" I shouted with all my strength, trying not to let my voice crack. This isn't happening.

My loving and kind brother- the one I ran to whenever something bad happened, the one who always made me laugh and loved with all my heart...

...was now the one person I hated the most.

He then raised his katana, I tensed.

I turned to the front doors and ran for my life.

I got out and ran out the streets, sobbing. I hate him. I stopped in my tracks. Everyone else I knew in the clan was lying face down on the ground, blood covering their bodies. I gasped forgetting how to breathe. I then heard a voice in the back of my head. It was my father's voice.

"Run Gakuren, run now. Go to the 7 Griffins, don't confront moon." He whispered in my head.

I clenched my fist and thought it _would_ be better if Idid run to the 7 Griffins. I couldn't possibly stand a chance against Moon.

I ran with all my might but I stopped, almost falling on my back when Moon appeared in front of me but he was far enough for me to run back to another alley.

Before I could turn into a corner, he charged me with such speed, he disappeared. I gasped when he appeared in front of me, only inches away from my face.

He punched my stomach with such force, I flew through the air and landed on the ground, somersaulting. I tried to get on my feet, but I ended up falling again thanks to the punch Moon gave.

With lots of effort, I was able to sit up even though my stomach felt like a rocket went through it. I saw a shadow over me and looked up to see Moon.

He was looking down at me with glowing red eyes. I was crying now, honestly...I didn't want to die. I can't die.

"Why did I kill them? In order to be the strongest, you should be strong enough to even eradicate your own family." He said with a low voice. My eyes grew wide.

What?

"How dare you use our family as practice dummies!" I growled at him. Right now I couldn't think of anything to scream at him since my head was filled with anger and disgust. He chuckled at me.

"Then avenge them." He said and I tensed.

"Kill me and avenge them...If you can." He said and my surroundings changed. It was really dark. I can't even see anything. I tried to look around and at my left; I saw the scene of our entire clan being slain. It was terrifying. Moon was doing this without even blinking.

I knew this. This was Moon's special ability. He could make people hallucinate and make them feel unimaginable pain even without lifting a finger.

I fell on my knees. It was all too much. I gripped my hair and shut my eyes.

"Stop it! No! STOP IT!" I yelled. I opened my eyes, and everything was normal again. I was panting with tears flowing down my cheeks and saliva dripping down the edge of my mouth. I felt like my heart was being pulled, squeezed and gripped all at the same time.

I winced and fell to my knees.

My right eye started to pulse, and an amazing pain started to grow, as if my eye was being stabbed. I grit my teeth, slightly whining in pain. When I thought that was it, my neck and chest started to go numb as my body turned cold.

I winced as my hand flew to my right eye and I froze to feel the warm liquid dripping onto my palm. When I tried to open my eye, it felt even more painful. With my other eye, I stared at Moon and he stared back.

"Good bye brother..." he said and disappeared. Scared of what he'll do next, I frantically looked around, trying to find him. Realizing he was gone, my heart calmed down.

My head fell along with my body and I crawled to the wall. I leaned on it and cried as much as I could.

"I...I hate you..." I mumbled weakly. I stayed there until dawn when people saw the bloody scene.

Our neighbor gasped and ran to me. I didn't even bother to look up at him.

"Gakuren! What happened here?!" he shouted, shaking my shoulders back and forth. I'm sure now. I need to see my human grandfather who was living in the human world at a place called The Leaf Village.

I'll make sure Moon will _regret_ letting me live. I'll destroy him. He's no longer my brother.

6 Years later...

I was walking down the earthy path with trees at each side of me. Looking up at the bright sun, it looks like it's going to be a very hot day in the ninja world.

Hi, my name is Gakuren Akiyama, 13 years old, and I'm not human nor am I a ninja. I'm what the human believers call a Griffin. We live in a world called Extail which is an easy place to get to if you know how to get there.

Griffins are creatures that live in Extail where humans don't exist but we know they exist in another world. Griffins look like giant wolves that have 2 tails.

But in my case, I have nine long tails like my father and I have a thick gold mane around my neck to show my status as the son of Ciel Akiyama; Earl of Extail. (Well, at least that's how I think I look like.)

We griffins have two forms; Human form and our natural Griffin form. Right now since I'm in the human world, I'm in human form so I won't freak people out.

But even with this form, Griffins also have elevated senses, strength, speed and defenses which make us feared creatures in the entire human world.

Although, there are very few people who believe we actually exist. (which is much better.) In my clan, all of us can control the elements. All griffins have special abilities, for me-I can order Extail animals to come fourth and attack.

For instance, I can bring out a mouse to eat a random human if I'd like to.

Don't laugh. I'm not kidding.

Animals back in extail are huge. Mice can be as big as oxen here. And oxen can be 5 times bigger. Another special ability of mine is to turn things to dust but I haven't done that for years since it took a lot of my energy to be able to do that and I've been trained by my Master back in Extail to only use it in desperate times.

Why am I in this world?

My whole clan was wiped out in one night by my own brother; Moon Akiyama. He left me to avenge my family and find him. This day happened when I was eight and I still couldn't do anything at that age. I would've been as helpless as a child but now, I will find Moon and kill him.

Right now I was at the ninja world and I have to say, I'm not really comfortable here. I only came here to find my grandfather who was the Hokage of the Leaf village.

I'm what humans call a wanderer since I've been passing every village and thanks to my poor sense f direction, I've been known in the ninja world as "The Wanderer".

Yes...such a pleasant name.

I sighed at the thought of grandpa asking me to go attend the academy to be a Genin. It was a very embarrassing thought to sit in a class full of kids that are way younger than you.

I was walking and saw a big tree to rest under. I then left the road and rest my head on the trunk, looking up at the clear sky. I took my backpack off my back putting it next to me. I decided to change my clothes, so I snapped my fingers and instantly, I had a change of clothes.

I was now wearing comfortable black pants I can run in without them falling off, a white button-down shirt with elbow length sleeves, a black jacket that I left unzipped, my favorite white leather half-gloves that left holes for my fingers to go through, combat boots my best friend Ryuu gave me before I left Extail, and the necklace my mom gave me before she died.

The lace was made of sterling silver, it was a cross pendant made of a shiny, silver indestructible mineral from our home which is very hard to find. And in the middle, there was a small blue diamond embedded.

I stared at the necklace and remembered Moon. I started to feel really annoyed and that annoyance could lead to a worse emotion. So, I looked away with effort to control my anger.

I relaxed and let myself breathe again. I took out my silver pocket watch and looked down at it, although, it's very different from a watch. It's actually a map of the entire ninja world. When I'm the one looking at it, I could make it a watch or the map. I thought of it to be a map and opened it.

Once it opened, a holographic map appeared before me showing all the lands and villages. Red X's marking the places I've been to.

The most horrible village I've been to was The Village hidden in the Mist. I really didn't like it since I couldn't see anything there. And I _hated_ not seeing anything.

I looked at the blinking blue circle which symbolizes me. I was in the land of fire now. Two days ago, I was in the land of wind now, I'm here.

My eyes grew wide when I saw that the hidden Leaf village was here. Well, it looksl ike being lost is helpful after all.

I breathed deeply, thankful that I'm here. The leaf village was where dad and I would go to visit my grandpa. He was my mom's father so, almost all the older villagers knew me. Finally, I get to see one blood related family member that's still alive.

I swallowed and put my watch back in my pocket. I stood up and I put on my small backpack that only had weapons, some food and a bottle of water in it. Actually, I could just snap my fingers and all those things would appear but as not to arouse suspicion, I brought the backpack but still found it really irritating.

I was thankful though that it was small. I ran my fingers through my purple hair. I realized it was getting a bit longer-which was better since I liked it that way.

Once I erased my scent from the tree, I was on my way to the leaf village.

I was calmly walking down the earthy path that was the direction to the leaf village staring down at the ground. Three hours had passed and it was already noon.

I was daydreaming about something unimportant when I heard a woman's scream nearby.

"What's going on?" I mumbled then dashed to the sound of the voice.

I reached a wooden bridge that hung over a huge dark gap with absolutely nothing under, just blackness. I ran to the bridge and saw woman's hands hanging from the wood.

"HOLD ON! I'M COMING MISS!" I yelled and she shrieked. She looked like she was in her early 20's and she had long hair.

The bridge looked stable enough but the place where she was hanging was certainly full of mold. I know cause' griffins have eyesight a million times better than a normal human's.

I did the opposite of what most would do; I climbed down the rocky cliff until I could see the woman.

"Help me please!" she yelled while crying. I was about to yell 'calm down' but her right hand lost her grip and she was now hanging with only one hand.

I flinched and felt my legs grow stronger and my body lighter. Before she could fall, I pushed the rocky wall then flew to her with lighting speed. In a second I had her in my arms, carrying her like a baby.

Once my feet touched the rocky wall on the opposite side, I pushed my feet up then flew up into the sky, landing on the stable ground

I was still carrying her while she had her eyes shut tight. I blinked and felt uncomfortable since her arms were coiled around my neck like she was going to strangle me.

"Umm, miss? It's okay now. You can get down now." I said with an embarrassed smile.

She opened her eyes then looked up at me. I gave her a warm smile and I could hear her heart beat faster. She had blood rushing into her face making her blush.

She stared at me, I blinked at her.

"Umm, miss? Are you okay?" I asked, concerned.

She shook her head slightly and smiled at me. "Oh. Yes! Thank you so much for saving me!" she cried and hugged (choked) me.

"Gah! Um... miss... please, it's Ghuk! No problem." I gagged since she was hugging me until I couldn't breathe.

I let her down and she fixed herself.

"Well, thanks again. Umm... what's your name?" she asked while looking at the ground with her hands behind her back.

I smiled kindly again and she stared at me, blushing again. "It's Gakuren." I said while scratching the back of my head. _'I have to stop smiling. She just might faint._' I thought to myself.

"Oh, thanks Gakuren. I should thank you properly, would you like to accompany me to my village? I'll make you some food as thanks." she asked with a smile. I blinked at her.

"Oh, no need. It's fine really. I need to get somewhere anyway." I said, slightly shaking my head.

"Where are you headed?" she asked. Somehow I felt she was trustworthy so I told her.

"Oh! I'm from the leaf village. I can accompany you. This could be my payment for saving Me." she said. My eyes grew bright.

"Well, okay then. Thank you." I said, giving her a slight bow for thanks then we left for the village. I found out her name was Anadita and she had a family back in the village.

I didn't really know much people in the village, only the jounin ninja and the black ops.

She was picking out delicious berries that grew on the other side of the bridge but when she was crossing the bridge back, her foot ended up going through the wood, making her fall. I tasted the berries and they _were_ delicious.

It took us a few minutes to get to the village. A huge wooden gate was left open, which made me uneasy for the villagers. You don't know when rogue ninja could attack.

I breathed deeply and we approached the guard house. As we got closer, two ninja appeared and walked to the middle.

I recognized them, one had brown spiky hair while the other had black spiky hair with a bandage across the bridge of his nose. They both wore ninja outfits and the leaf headband.

The one with the spiky hair was Hughes and the other with black hair was Gon. They both have been guarding the gates since I can remember.

At first they looked at me with guarded eyes, I was a little confused. They don't seem to remember me anymore.

We approached them but they both stopped me.

"Ana, you said you would pick some berries but instead, you bought this boy along. But I have to say, he looks oddly familiar." Hughes said, looking at me with a thoughtful expression.

"Yeah, that's right." Gon agreed. I grinned at them while they stared at me, their eyes growing wide.

"No way! Gakuren?!" Gon asked and I ended up chuckling at them.

I shook their hands while Anadita looked up at me, confused.

"You know each other?" she asked, tilting her head a bit.

They both looked at Anadita with a shocked expression. They were about to explain when I saw a small old man behind Gon.

He was shorter than me and he wore a hat that bore the sign of the land of fire. He also wore a white robe. He had paper bag colored skin and he chuckled at Gon and Hughes.

"Well, Gakuren, you're back. It's been such a long time. C'mon." he said and put his hand on my back, pushing me into the village.

We left the three of them staring at us and I looked at gramps. He was my grandfather; Sarutobi. I turned back at the three people.

"Bye! Thanks again Anadita!" I called. They waved their hands at me then we left.

"So, Gakuren, what brings you here? Look how you've grown!" he exclaimed. I chuckled at him and ignored the people staring at us as we headed to the hokage's building.

"Yeah, it has been a long time. The village has changed a lot." I said as I looked around the place.

"So, what happened at home? How's the family?" he asked, I flinched. I clenched my fist and looked down at the ground so my bangs were covering my eyes.

"Moon- he-he..." I tried to say it but I just might yell it. I looked up at gramps and he stared at me with sad eyes.

"Moon... killed everyone." I finally said. I grit my teeth to control my anger and I realized we stopped in the middle of the street and for a second, I thought the wind picked up.

"What?" he asked with a low voice.

"I'll tell you once we get to your office." I said in a whisper.

I looked at him and for a while, he stared at me, his emotion unreadable. He then nodded and we continued up the road but we walked silently.

We were at his office now but we were both silent.

"Please, tell me." he said. I looked up at him and he had a serious look on his face. So I told him everything.

After all I said, he went silent and balled up his fist.

"I'm-I'm so sorry Gakuren." He said. I looked at him, bewildered.

"Why are _you_ saying sorry? You didn't do anything." I said with a blank face.

"Exactly, I should've been there for you." he said. I got out my chair then walked up to him.

"Gramps, it's okay. I'm just thankful you're still alive." I said and put my hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me and I gave him a small smile.

I then looked away, suddenly feeling down. I miss them horribly now.

"Gakuren, don't grieve. Your mother would hate seeing you like this." He said. I looked back at him and nodded. He was right.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore. It's bad to have a frown on your face." He said with a gentle smile. Well, that was his usual self. He barely frowns and he's the liveliest in the family.

"Ok. So, what now?" I asked & sat back on my chair.

"Well, you're not a Genin yet..." he trailed off. I froze in my seat.

"Please don't make me go to the academy." I blurted and he chuckled.

"Don't worry. I already know you are capable of being a great ninja. So..." he said and from the drawer on his desk, he took out a shiny headband that bore the sign of the leaf village then handed it to me.

"You're now a Genin." He said with a smile. I looked up at him suspicious. Getting a leaf headband _can't_ be that _easy_.

"You're kidding right? Is this a test?" I asked and he laughed.

"Just take it. All the young kids are now Genin and it's a good thing you arrived. Tomorrow, you will be introduced to your new teammates." He explained.

"Teammates?" I asked and he nodded.

"Well, you need to have teammates." He shrugged.

"But, where will you live now?" he asked and I frowned. Haven't thought of _that_.

"Umm, don't worry about it. I'm far more powerful now." I bragged leaning back on my chair.

"Well, well, you have confidence!" he laughed and I stood up, heading to the doors.

"Oh, Gakuren." Gramps called. I turned to him with a raised brow.

"yes?"

"You're right. I can't just let you waltz out here without a little test. So, since I'm so busy right now, I'll have every jounin ninja monitor your performance as a ninja. If you do certain things that make you unworthy of being a shinobi, I will take back that headband." Gramps said with a sly expression.

I blinked at him and he smiled.

"Understood?" he asked, slightly tilting his head as if listening to my answer.

"Uh, yes…" I shuddered. For some reason, I felt a slight chill crawl up the nape of my neck. I turned back to the doors and waved good bye then left the building.

I was walking out the streets with my eyes on the ground. I tried to ignore people who kept on staring at me.

I felt my face getting hot. I gulped and half-ran to the other street that led to the small forest I know. In that small forest was a tiny lake that glittered beautifully in the day time.

"Hey! Is that you Gakuren?!" I heard a woman yell. I turned to see an old lady waving to me. I smiled at her, it was granny Satu. I approached her, bowing.

"Granny Satu, it's been too long." I said and mentally groaned when she grabbed my cheeks and pinched them.

"Oh, you've gotten really handsome! I knew immediately it was you that the others were talking about! Rumor was going around that a handsome young man with ivory white skin and purple eyes entered the village with the hokage." She said still pinching my cheeks. I laughed nervously.

She let go of me then patted my head. "Well, then how long will you be staying here? I see you already have a leaf headband! When did you become a Genin?" she asked, looking at my headband which was tied around my neck.

I scratched the back of my head. I had to make up something since she didn't know I was a griffin. "Granny, I've been here for a week now. I just didn't see you." I lied. I then thought of her believing me and since all griffins can make humans agree with them, it worked.

"Oh really? Well, I must be getting old." She chuckled. I laughed in reply.

"Well then, I have to go now." I said and waved goodbye to her then continued down the road.

While walking, I met other people I knew and convinced them I was here until the word spread. Because humans can be thick, it wasn't a problem.

I arrived at the edge of a small forest then went in to get to the same beautiful lake, at the left was an open space covered in grass. It was really airy and cool here, even under the hot sun.

This was the perfect place. I raised my right hand and snapped my fingers. Suddenly, out of thin air, a traditional house for a single guy to live in appeared. At the front was a stone path and a wooden house with sliding glass doors as the front doors.

I exhaled and went in my new home.

The first room you would enter would be the main room which had a TV, a small wooden table with cushions to sit on. The left room was the kitchen and the next room was a bathroom with all my toiletries and finally, my room.

I opened the glass doors and went in to see a big room with hardwood floors, a TV, a huge shelf full of books, a desk next to the bed and a big closet near the other sliding glass doors that led to a small fenced garden. I even put in my own bathroom.

I went out the garden and saw a sakura tree along with Rose bushes with white and blue roses. I walked to the tree, breathing in the fresh air. A blizzard of cherry blossoms rained on me. I sighed and sat under the tree, thinking of tomorrow.

Tomorrow, everything begins. I looked up and judging by where the shadow of the tree was, it was already 5pm. I decided to go in and just read a book until night.

I went in, closing the door behind me. I put down my bag and took a book from the shelf. I crawled into bed and started reading.

I looked at the clock and saw it was already 9 pm. I frowned then looked at the stack of books I've read. I was feeling sleepy so I snapped my fingers and the lights turned off.

I put the blanket over myself and after a while I fell asleep.

I woke up with the sun in my eyes. I groaned and sighed. I squinted at the clock, seeing it was already 8 am. I sat up & stretched my arms. I guess it's time to go to gramps. He did say I had to meet my teammates.

I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. After a bath, I towel dried my hair. I put on white pants that were easy to move in, a black sleeveless shirt with a white leather jacket.

I had a thing for gloves so I decided to wear brown half-gloves today, the sort that has holes for your fingers to go through. And I wore black combat boots to make me look taller than I already am.

Since the pants were too long, I tucked them into the boots and tied my headband around my neck. Then I left the room and locked the gates.

I was locking the gates when all of a sudden somebody bumped into me with such force; I hit my forehead on the thick wooden gates.

Right now, I was outside and I have to act like a human.

"Ow..." I grumbled loud enough for the person who bumped me to hear. I chuckled a bit at myself since what I was doing was a bit ridiculous.

"I'm real sorry." I heard a girl's voice say. I turned and saw a girl with long pink hair, a red robe that was until her knees and tight knee-length shorts. She had her headband on top of her head. She was sitting on the grass, smiling at me, embarrassed.

I was a little surprised to see a girl around this forest. I leaned down, giving my hand to her. She stared at me and blood rushed into her cheeks.

"Are you okay?" I asked. I hated it when girls look at me this way. It makes me feel like they're going into shock. She shook her head a bit and blinked.

"Oh yeah, thanks." She said and I helped her up. She looked down at the ground with a sheepish smile. "Um, sorry about that. Are you okay?" she asked. I chuckled at that.

That small bump to the head feels like I hit cotton instead of hard wood.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied.

"So, I've never seen you around here before or this house." She said staring at me. I laughed a bit. "Well, my grandpa made this house for me and as for not seeing me around... I barely leave the house." I froze.

My headband. Please don't see it.

She glanced at my neck.

"But, you have a headband. How'd you get that? I've never seen you around the academy either." she asked. I should've asked gramps to give it to me after introducing me to my teammates.

"Oh, this isn't real. My gramps... made it for me. And I'm home-schooled." I said with a smile. I was thankful when she shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh well, it's made nicely. Anyway..." She raised her hand to me as if she wanted to shake hands.

"I'm Sakura Haruno." She greeted with a big smile. Well, she was lively. I shook her hand and smiled back at her.

"I'm Gakuren Akiyama." I replied making her blush. I let go of her hand and we both looked down at the ground since it was really awkward.

"Well, I need to go. See Ya' Sakura." I turned to the direction of the village and left immediately. Before I got to the trees, I turned my head to her and waved goodbye. She waved back.

I picked up my pace because I smelled two more people coming. I didn't want to explain again.

Why are there so many people here?!

Once I got to the shade of the trees, I jumped from branch to branch until I reached the edge of the forest. I landed on top of a bench that was on the side of the street. I jumped down and headed for the hokage's building, hopefully gramps will be there.


	2. Meeting the Blonde Idiot

CHAPTER 2:

After a few minutes, I arrived at gramps' office and went in to see no one.

"Great." I snorted, crossing my arms as I looked around the small but open room.

"Oh, is that you Gakuren?" I heard a man's voice ask me. I quickly turned and saw a familiar face. It was Iruka sensei.

Iruka sensei was partly my teacher just for fun. When he had spare time, he would help me train with shuriken and kunai knives. He had brown spiky hair that was held in a ponytail and on the bridge of his nose was a scar. He was smiling down at me and I smiled back.

"Hey Sensei." I greeted.

We were walking down the street, heading to the city hall since he said that was where gramps was.

"So, Gakuren, I umm… I heard about your family." He said with caution in his voice, I flinched. Every time someone mentions my family, flinching was my automatic reaction. Swallowing my saliva, I kept quiet. I didn't want to talk about this. Not anymore.

"Umm, sensei, can we not talk about it?" I asked looking up at him with a weak smile. He stared at me and nodded.

"Okay then. I'm sorry." He said and we walked silently till we reached the city hall.

We went up the second floor and opened the double doors. Once the doors opened, I froze as Iruka sensei left me at the door and sat next to gramps who was in the middle of discussing the ninja rankings to a blonde kid wearing orange pants with a matching orange jacket.

Next to that boy was a familiar person.

She had long pink hair and judging from her scent; that was Sakura. And on the blonde kid's left was a boy with black hair, white shorts and a blue shirt. He was standing like me; hands in his pockets. Next to him was what looked like a jounin ninja. He had gray windblown hair.

I ended up listening to the discussion. "You are only Genin level ninja so, you do simple missions like baby-sitting and finding lost pets." Gramps slowly explained, showing a scroll with ninja rankings written on it.

I silently walked to the side leaned on the wall. I stood there with my right foot on the wall and arms crossed in front of me. Gramps continued his discussion absent mindedly, but they weren't listening at all.

"So, I had this ramen and I compared it to-"

"SILENCE!" gramps yelled, gaining their attention.

"Oh, sorry, you were saying?" the jounin asked with a sheepish tone.

"Argh! I don't care about that old man! I'm not the same trouble maker like before! I'm a ninja now and I want a ninja mission!" the blonde kid yelled and turned away from gramps. Once he turned, he saw me and we locked eyes.

"Who're you?" he asked. I blinked at him, not knowing what to say and looked up at gramps. He smiled slyly at me. What was he smiling about? It's like he was enjoying a little joke.

"Gakuren! What are you doing here?" Sakura asked with a smile on her face. I gave her a small smile. The blonde guy turned to Sakura.

"You know this guy?" he asked her with a questioning look.

"Isn't it obvious?!" Sakura growled and hit his head.

"This is my grandson, Gakuren Akiyama." Gramps said. I took my foot off the wall and gave them a 180 degree bow.

"It's nice to meet you." I greeted without looking up at them.

Once I pulled up my head, the blonde kid suddenly approached me, his face inches from mine. "You're the old man's grandson? I've never seen you before." He said, studying me with his eyes darting up and down.

"Oh, so it's Gakuren. It's been a long time hasn't it?" I looked at the jounin and noticed he had a mask on his face. Thinking for a moment, I realized it was Kakashi sensei.

That's why I felt familiar with that grey hair.

I gave him a nod. "Hey sensei." I greeted and they all approached me.

"He barely goes out of the house that's why you don't know him." Gramps explained for me.

"Yeah, but how'd he get that headband?" the guy with black hair asked while looking at me with guarded eyes.

"Well…" I started say what I told Sakura, but gramps stopped me with his hand. I stared up at him, wondering what he was gonna tell me to do.

"I think you can tell them the truth." He said, making them all look at gramps. Even the other jounin stared at him with surprise. He was telling me to tell them the truth about me being a griffin.

Really? Honestly, I won't be surprised if they run away screaming their heads off. Either that or they'd laugh at my face.

The three of them turned to me. "What does he mean?" Sakura asked, slightly pulling up her brow.

I took a deep breath. "Are you sure gramps?" I asked, looking up at the hokage with a raised brow, he nodded with approval.

"All right then." I said and explained everything about me being a griffin and what griffins are, where I came from and how I'm related to gramps and how, when I got here.

Once I was done explaining, the three genin were all silent and I glanced at Sakura. I wonder how she would react since she talked to a griffin earlier.

"Griffin huh? Well, I've heard of them. So that's why you look so different!" Sakura said with a smile. I blinked, surprised that their taking this really well.

The black haired guy stayed quiet, staring at me with knit brows.

"Well, that doesn't explain how you got a headband if you only got here." The black haired guy said. I was about to start when gramps stopped me once more.

"Since I knew he had abilities far greater than a human's and he trains a lot back in Extail, I figured it was his time to be a ninja." Gramps explained.

"You said the hokage made it for you." Sakura said accusingly.

"Ah, yeah. I lied. Sorry, had to." I said with a sheepish grin.

They all seemed to understand so I relaxed.

I jumped a bit when I saw the blonde kid inch his face closer. He kept on coming closer so I kept on backing up until I hit the wall.

"Umm, will you stop that?" I almost begged, turning my face away from him. And he burst into laughter, rolling on the floor. I looked down at him, the edge of my mouth twitching with irritation.

"You-you're more powerful than a human? Prove it!" he shouted at me. I raised my brow with disbelief and heard gramps chuckle.

"I wouldn't make him angry if I were you, Naruto." He advised. So his name was Naruto huh?

I smiled at him. "Okay then." I said. I approached him and raised my finger. He started floating in the air. He kept floating upwards until his head almost bumped the ceiling.

"Wahh!" he cried. The four of them laughed. "I told you." gramps laughed.

"Gahh! Put me down!" Naruto yelled. I then slowly pulled my finger down making him float down.

Naruto looked away from me and crossed his arms, embarrassed. "Humph. Big deal." He said and making me pull back my head, still amazed how thick headed this kid is.

"Oh, so you're not satisfied eh?" I asked and approached him with a sly smile. I was about to breathe in a gust of air to send him flying, but that would damage the wall.

Thinking about it, I sighed instead. "It's not worth it." I said and stepped away.

"What, are you scared?" he asked and stuck out his tongue like a little pre-schooler.

"Umm, Naruto-" Kakashi sensei started, but gramps stopped him.

"So, is that what a griffin is made of?!" Naruto challenged, clenching his fists. Annoyance started to grow on me so I glanced at him from the corner of my eye.

"I don't like wasting my powers on _garbage_." I taunted and he suddenly charged me with a very annoyed look on his face.

Just what I wanted him to do.

"Naruto!" Kakashi sensei yelled. I simply stepped aside and he turned to me with his fist about to punch my face. Before he could, I grabbed his hand and he froze. I gave him a small smile and, since his back was to the balcony, I lightly pushed his hand back and he flew through the balcony and out into the air.

"AAAHHH!" he shouted as he floated helplessly, looking down at the ground below him. I chuckled and made the wind bring him back. But since I didn't find his personality nice, he fell down the wooden floor with force, landing on his face. The whole room was quiet then Sakura and the black haired kid looked at me. I smiled at Naruto, content with my little trick.

"Satisfied?" I asked. He looked up at me and growled. Once again, he charged me. I sighed and once he got close enough, I gave him an uppercut and he stuck to the roof.

"Whoa." Sakura whispered with awe. I looked up to see Naruto was stuck on the ceiling, twitching.

"Okay, okay, you're strong, I get It." he muttered and fell down, landing in front of my feet.

I sighed and gramps chuckled loudly at us. We all looked at him with confusion.

"What old man?" Naruto asked with a loud tone and I punched down his head. He looked up at me with a scowl and I glared at him. "Show some respect." I said and he rolled his eyes at me.

"You two should be friendlier towards each other. Because from now on…" gramps trailed off. My eyes grew wide. He's not going to say what I think he's gonna say is he?

"Gakuren! You are now a part of their squad!" gramps finished. My mouth fell and so did Naruto's.

"What?!" we both yelled.

"Oh, come now Gakuren, you fit in with them the most and you know Kakashi very well. You'll be fine." He assured. Staring at him with a bewildered expression, he smiled at me.

"But-" I started, gramps raised his brow at me, as if saying: "don't you dare argue with me."

I kept my mouth agape like a fish out of water then closed it, not knowing what to do or say. I then rolled my eyes.

"Whatever." I mumbled and gramps leaned back on his chair.

"No way! I object!" Naruto yelled stubbornly and Kakashi sensei hit his head. "Oh, shut it." he said and I snorted. The other two genin turned to me and Sakura gave me a smile.

"Don't worry Gakuren, this'll be fun!" she said. I gave her a smile. The black haired kid was now staring at me. I ignored him and gramps cleared his throat.

"Anyway, I will give you a c-rank mission then." Gramps said to continue their conversation. The four of them turned to gramps with surprise and Naruto snickered with excitement.

"Really?! Yeah!" he yelled while jumping up and down excitedly. Great! my first real mission! Thank you gramps!

"But, Gakuren, you won't be coming with them." Gramps suddenly said.

I take back that thank you.

"What? But-" I started but he stopped me.

"This is your first time as a Genin." He simply said with a blank expression.

"Yeah, so? I've been around every village. I can do this! This is what I've been-"

"Yes. But Moon's here." he asked with a serious face. I froze.

"What?" I asked with a shaky voice, my fist clenching into a ball.

"Gakuren, we've confirmed that your brother is here in the human world but we don't know exactly where he is." One jounin said and I gulped.

"Who's Moon?" Sakura asked from beside me, I looked down.

Perfect. This is my chance to avenge my clan!

"Don't you dare think of going after him!" gramps yelled with such force, it made me jump. I stared at him with disbelief.

"But-" I started.

"That's final. You're staying. You may be stronger than a human but Moon is much stronger than you." gramps sternly said. I clenched my fist, resisting the urge to throw a child's tantrum.

"Fine." I growled and stubbornly turned away from gramps. It would be a stupid idea anyway. I'll just wait to see Moon for myself.

"Good. Now, let me tell you what you'll be doing. You will escort a person back to the safety of their village." gramps explained. Since I wasn't coming along, I walked back to the wall and returned to my position before I greeted them.

"Really?! Who?! Is it a princess?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Calm down. I'll bring him in now." Gramps motioned his finger and from the door, an old man with glasses and white spiky hair came wobbling in. I wrinkled my nose, turning my face away from him so he wouldn't see. He reeked of sake.

Yes, a princess indeed.

"Huh? These little squirts are the ones escorting me back?" he asked. "And you; the midget with the idiotic look on his face-you want me to believe you can protect me?" he hiccupped. Naruto laughed loudly, standing with a confident pose.

"Who's the midget with the idiotic look-" He didn't finish his sentence as Sakura and the other boy stood closer to him, showing he's the smallest one.

I snorted at them and Naruto growled at the old man. He was about to tackle him but sensei grabbed his jacket. "Argh! Let me at him! I'll pulverize him!" he growled.

"You can't pulverize the client Naruto, that's not how it works." Sensei simply said.

The old man then finished his bottle. "Oh well, my name is Tazuna. And I expect you to return me home in once piece." The old man said and Naruto looked away stubbornly.

"Now then, go on. Gakuren, you stay." Gramps said. I didn't say anything and looked away from him. Naruto approached me and stuck his tongue out.

As Naruto was about to say something stupid, the door near gramps' seat flew open and on the door way was a brow haired kid wearing a yellow shirt, shorts and a long green scarf came in. He even had goggles on his head. Good timing.

_I_ would've pulverized Naruto right now.

"Where is he?! Where's Gakuren?!" he shouted and looked at me. He then stomped towards us and pointed his finger at my face. "Are you Gakuren?!" he shouted. I raised my brow.

"Yes." I simply said. He suddenly snickered.

"Well then, I challenge you!" he yelled and out of nowhere he threw a shuriken at me. I simply stopped it before it could hit my face.

I raised my index finger and 3rd finger so it went through both fingers, leaving me unscathed. I let it go and it fell on the floor. I looked up at the kid and he was staring at me, but a sudden wide grin stretched across his face.

"Wow! That's really cool! But you're no match for Naruto!" he shouted and Naruto stood next to me. "Hear that? I'm better than you!" he said but I simply laughed.

"What's so funny?" Naruto growled. I shook my head, refusing to tell him.

"Well, if you _are_ better than me, let's see you endure this!" Naruto jumped back and made a hand sign. A puff of smoke appeared and once it cleared, in naruto's place was a girl with long blonde hair.

But the most disgraceful part was that she was completely naked. I grimaced, rolling my eyes. Naruto transformed into this girl? Disgusting.

Naruto approached me and looked up at me with flirty eyes. Everyone was so shocked, their noses bled and they all fell on the floor except for the black haired kid, Kakashi sensei & Sakura (of course). Naruto then cuddled my arm.

"Hi Gakuren." He said sweetly. I grimaced again and shut my eyes, resisting the urge to punch him to the next village.

"Naruto, go away. You idiot." I growled through my teeth. He wouldn't go away so I punched him, making him fall on the floor and turn back into himself. He sat up, rubbing his sore cheek and I glared at him.

"Whoa! Cool! You are strong!" the kid yelled, smiling excitedly.

"How'd you endure my herub jutsu?!" Naruto yelled. I rolled my eyes. "And more importantly, how can you punch a girl?!" he yelled with a shocked face.

"It was a transformation jutsu! And I hate this kind of thing! Do you think I'd fall for _that_?!" I growled at him. I really do hate this kind of things, even though other guys would've stared at Naruto for hours.

Gramps cleared his throat. "Konohamaru, you shouldn't go barging in like that." He said and the kid named Konohamaru pouted.

"I just wanted to see Gakuren. Well, now that I have, See Ya!" he said and sped away. I blinked. Humans are such strange creatures.

"Now then, you should be on your way." Gramps said dismissing them.

"Can I go?" I asked, looking up at gramps, all the hile ignoring Naruto's quiet bickering.

"Didn't I say you can't-"

"I meant go home." I said with an expressionless face. I was tired of this. I need to relax. He stared at me and sighed. "Go on." He said and I walked out the room, still angry. As I was walking down the stairs, I heard Sakura calling me.

"Hey, Gakuren!" I turned and saw the four of them heading my way. I gave her a small smile and waited for them. "Why don't you walk with us?" she asked. Just because she asked nicely, I agreed.

We were walking down the streets with everyone staring at me again.

"He's cute, cuter than that Sasuke guy." I heard one girl whisper.

"Whoa, purple eyes." another whispered but I ignored them since I was still sulking.

"Ha-ha! While you stay here and sulk, we'll be on a mission!" Naruto laughed. I snapped and glared at him the best I could. Fortunately, he got the message that I was mad and shut his mouth.

"Hey Gakuren? Where's your family?" Sakura asked and again, I flinched but so did sensei. Looks like all the jounin know about it. Gramps must've told them about Moon.

"They're all dead." I said flatly and they all flinched.

"I-I'm sorry." Sakura apologized.

"What do you mean? What happened?" Naruto asked, looking at me with shaky eyes. It looked like he lost his cheery personality. I wanted to tell them. Just to let the rising anger out before it fills up in me.

"My whole clan was murdered by my own brother." I said. It must've been because it was so long ago, but now, I don't feel that angry anymore.

"What?" the black haired boy asked. I looked at him and this was my first time seeing his face. He looked at me with shaky eyes as well.

"Your…brother?" he asked through his teeth. I stared at him, why does he look so hurt? Like what happened to me was what happened to him too?

"Yes. One of the reasons I came here is to find him." I said, staring at the raven haired boy.

"Why? Is that the guy the hokage was talking about? Why would you go after him if he was so strong?" Sakura asked, she suddenly put her hands to her mouth as if what she said was wrong. I gave them a small smile.

"Because he asked me to." I simply said and they stared at me. I looked down at the ground while we were walking.

"Normally, I would talk out the situation peacefully instead of fighting. At first I didn't want to go after him but since he wanted me to, then I's happily oblige. But I can't say I don't want to either. Once I find him, I'll make him regret letting me live and make him pay for everything he's done." I growled. My chest suddenly felt heavy.

"We're not that different." The black haired kid said. I stared at him and he looked up at me. "I had the exact same thing happen to me." he said with hateful eyes. I blinked at him, surprised.

"I didn't know I wasn't the only one." I mumbled.

"That's my plan too. To find my brother and kill him." he said flatly. I stared at him. I wasn't as hateful as he was. Honestly, I wasn't sure my brother was even worth half my life.

After that, we walked silently until we passed my forest.

"See Ya then." I said, walking towards the tall trees.

"We'll be back before you know it Gakuren!" Sakura said with a reassuring smile. Funny, I thought her smile looked like she was saying everything will be fine. I smiled at her.

"Okay then. Bye." I said and jumped into the branches with my normal griffin speed (which would have been only a blur to human eyes.) and headed home, leaving the three of them looking for me.

I reached home and immediately went to the sakura tree and jumped up the branch to see over the high wall of my home. I sat there until night time and the next day, I would be going around the village. It's just so unfair how the three of them get to go on a mission while I stay at home.

It was already dark so I jumped off the tree and went back to my room.

I changed into jogging pants and a sleeveless shirt. I took a book from the shelf and after a few minutes, I dozed into sleep.


	3. Welcome back Teammates!

CHAPTER 3:

I woke up and squinted up at the clock to see it was already 10 am. I sighed and sat up.

"Should I go around?" I asked myself. I jumped out of bed and went into the bathroom to get a nice bath. After that, I changed into white pants, a white V-neck paired with a white leather jacket and of course, black gloves.

I put on the usual black boots and went out the house. After I locked gates, I walked out the forest with my hands in my pockets. Thanks to the strong wind, I was in a better mood today.

I was walking down the streets with my eyes on the bare ground and the wind playing with my hair, messing it up but I could care less since it was always messy anyway. I couldn't look up since everyone was staring at me.

"Hey, it's Gakuren." One girl whispered. I ignored them and kept walking absentmindedly. As I was making my way to the park, I heard a small voice calling my name.

I turned to see Konohamaru running to me at full speed. I froze when I saw the banana peel on the ground.

"NO KONOHAMARU! WAIT!" I yelled but… too late. He slipped on it and because of his intense speed, he rammed straight into me making me fall on my back.

I groaned and looked at Konohamaru. The nerve, he was sitting on my stomach with a huge grin. "Hahaha! Jeez, you can't even dodge me?!" he laughed. I twitched and sat up.

Ungrateful dwarf.

If I wasn't there, he would've sailed straight through the crowd and hit something harder than me.

"What do you want Konohamaru?" I asked. Konohamaru was basically my cousin whom I've never met before. He was gramps' human grandson and he may be a bit of a pain, but I like his energy.

Konohamaru snickered. "Let's go training! I want to be trained by a griff-"

He was about to yell 'griffin' but I covered his mouth just in time.

"Be quiet! You can't say that in public!" I hissed. I got up with Konohamaru in my arms. I ran with normal human speed and we stopped at a training spot with dummies to train with. I put him down and sighed.

"Gramps told you about me huh?" I asked, looking down at him since he was so short.

He shook his head. "I actually knew about you even before you got here! Gramps has been telling me stories about you and where you were living! When I heard you were at the city hall, I rushed to see you!" he cried with bright eyes.

I stared at him. He knew me before I got here? Wow.

I sighed. "Well, I'm not going to train. Why are you asking me anyway? Aren't you an academy student? You should have a teacher." I said while dusting my back and pants.

"Well, my teacher's not as good as you! Besides I want to be trained by a griffin!" he said. I sighed.

"Look Konohamaru, it isn't easy to train a full grown human how to fight like a griffin, what makes you think it will be much easier to teach a _little_ human?" I asked and lightly pushed his forehead.

"Oh come on!" he cried as he rubbed his forehead.

"Konohamaru, griffins and humans are genetically different so, a griffin training a human is impossible." I said and he sat on a log. I looked up at the sky.

"All the attacks griffins do are impossible for a human. We use the elements and hold abilities far greater than you can imagine." I said and looked back at him. He was looking at the ground with sadness in his eyes.

Great, now guilt was eating away at me.

"Okay, I'll train you." I sighed. I was totally defeated by this kid. He looked up at me with glittering eyes.

"Gakuren!" he shouted & tackled me, making me fall back on the grass.

"Ah! Jeez!" I cried and he laughed. I shook my head with a smile.

"More force!" I yelled while he threw shuriken at the dolls. We've been training since 10:50. Right now its 3 pm. Konohamaru threw another shuriken but this one was weaker. I looked down at him and he was sweating crazily.

"That's enough, rest." I said and sat down the grass with my arm propped up on my right leg. Konohamaru won't even sit. He kept on throwing shuriken at the dolls, even though we've been at it for hours, he still hasn't hit the bull's eye.

"Konohamaru, sit down." I called but he ignored me.

"No way! If I rest now, that means it's enough for today and you won't train me anymore!" he shouted. I blinked at him and chuckled.

"Who said I wouldn't train you anymore?" I asked with a smile and a raised brow. He turned at me, his face beaded with sweat. "You- you mean it?" he asked. I looked down at the grass. "Well, that is when I have free time." I said.

"But, since Kakashi and the others aren't here yet, we can train all day until they get back." I said with a smile and he grinned widely. "Thanks Gaku!" he said.

"Gaku?" I asked, raising my brows with disbelief.

"Yeah, your name's a mouthful so- I'll just call you Gaku." He grinned. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Okay, now rest. You've been at it since morning and you haven't eaten yet. I'll buy you some food." I got up and dusted myself and we went to the village to find a good place to eat in.

While we were walking down the road, Konohamaru pulled my shirt and pointed to a ramen shop. I heard my stomach growl. Oh well, this'll have to do.

We went in and greeted the chef and a lady.

"Hey Konohamaru! Who's this young man?" the chef asked and Konohamaru made an exaggerated gasp.

"What are you saying?! This is Gakuren; he's basically my cousin since he's the old man's grandson too!" Konohamaru said, hugging my arm. I bowed to them and smiled.

"It's nice to meet you." I greeted.

"Oh wow, so you're that boy the whole village has been talking about!" the lady said. I put my hand behind my head, a gesture I would make when I'm embarrassed and smiled.

"Well, what would you like? Order anything." The chef said.

We chose the best looking ramen and ate. I didn't think I was so hungry, but the ramen was so good, I ended up finishing three bowls. Konohamaru ate the same quantity.

"Whoa Gaku! You weren't even the one training yet you can eat that much?!" Konohamaru yelled with surprise.

I laughed nervously. "Well, I have a big stomach." I said with a sheepish grin.

"Well, you two are amateurs compared to that Naruto kid. He can eat 10 bowls non-stop, that kid." The chef said while making some noodles. I chuckled.

"I wonder why that Naruto's such a troublemaker." I asked them while my fingers fiddled with the long silver spoon.

"Well, he was ignored when he was a kid. The villagers never liked him for some reason. So, to be seen by people, he would do lots of pranks." The woman said. I nodded and kept eating.

Once we were done, I paid them and we walked around the village before going back to training.

"Hey, can we go now?!" Konohamaru asked impatiently.

"One good thing to do is relax before training." I said with my eyes closed.

I heard him sigh and chuckled. After a few minutes, we continued on training.

"Why don't you teach me how to control chakra?" he asked. I scratched the back of my head.

"Griffins don't have chakra Konohamaru." I said with a slightly embarrassed look.

"Huh? Really?"

"Yeah. I told you, humans are very different from griffins." I replied. I only taught him how to hit a bull's eye on the doll with kunai and shuriken. After that, we ran around the village to lengthen his endurance and stamina.

It was already dark with the streetlights on and we were sitting on a bench. Konohamaru was soaked in sweat and he was panting heavily. Nobody was around so I snapped my fingers and a bottle of cool water appeared in my hands. I handed it to him & he drank like there was no tomorrow.

"Well, that's enough for today." I said. "Next time bring a change of clothes." I said & stood up.

"Let's go. I wanna go home." I said. He wasn't replying so I looked back to see him sleeping. I fully turned to him and stared at his sleeping face. I chuckled and scooped him up. I carried him with his chin on my shoulder & his arms dangling.

I jumped from tree to tree until we reached gramps' office. I landed on the roof and knocked on the window seeing that gramps was still doing paperwork.

He turned to me and his brows knit. I motioned him to open the windows for me and he got out of his chair to open it. I jumped in and placed Konohamaru on the sofa.

"What happened?" he asked me with alarm.

"Well, he and I were training." I said. "Does he have clothes here?" I asked and gramps pointed to a wooden closet. I took a small towel and a loose white shirt.

I walked back to Konohamaru and sat him up. I wiped his face gingerly with a wet towel and changed his shirt. Once that was done, I lied him back down and put a blanket over him.

"You two look like actual brothers." Gramps chuckled. I smiled a bit and turned to gramps. "Well, I don't know why I have a soft spot for him." I said and shook my head. Gramps went back to doing his paper work and I sat on top of his desk.

"When do you think the four of them will come back?" I asked.

"Well, I'm not really sure. But they might be back in a few days." Gramps replied. I nodded and went to the window. "I'll be going now." I said and looked up at the bright full moon and jumped out.

"Gakuren," Gramps called. I turned to him.

"I'm sorry I didn't let you go on that mission. It's just too dangerous… for you that is." He apologized. I nodded once.

"It's fine. If you let me go, I wouldn't have been able to spend time with that little kid." I smiled and gramps smiled back.

"See Ya." I said and jumped down the roof, landing in front of the surprised guards.

"Oh it's only you Gakuren, why not use the stairs?" one of the guards chuckled. I turned to them with a mischievous smile. "It's more fun this way." I said and bid them good bye.

I was walking down the street and I have to say, I'm really not used to the village to be… so active at night. While I was walking, people greeted me and I greeted them in return.

I stopped when at the corner of my eye, I saw a white rose. I turned my head to the flower & saw it was in a flower shop. There was a whole vase of them. I don't know why but, I have a thing for flowers, animals and such. And seeing that rose reminded me of my mom and how she loved roses.

I went in the shop and saw a girl with long white hair that was in a ponytail behind the counter. She was watering the flowers behind her and once the bell of the door rang, she turned to me, not meeting my eyes.

"Welcome to-" She looked up at me and froze. I gave her a small smile and blood rushed into her cheeks; I could literally hear her heart flutter.

"Umm, Hi." She said. I bowed my head a bit and turned to the roses.

I leaned down to see they were well taken care of. Not a single one had wilts.

"Excuse me; can I have 5 roses please?" I asked. She froze and rushed to me. She leaned down and shakily took 5 flowers. She headed back to the counter and I followed.

"Tha-That will be 5 yen." She stammered. I gave her the money and took the flowers now wrapped in a clear plastic.

"Thanks." I said and left the shop.

"Oh my Godddd! He's so hot!" I heard her say. Like I said, griffins have 100 times better hearing than a human's. I chuckled at her and headed home.

While I was walking, I could hear people whispering about me having roses and who they might be for.

I sighed. They're not for anyone. I just like roses. Really, I don't like anyone right now. I guess I'll just meet her somewhere, someday.

I arrived home and summoned a white vase. I put it on the table near the main room's TV. and waved my hand over the vase, once I did that, the vase had clear water inside.

I thought of experimenting on the flowers. I breathed on three of them turning those three into blue roses.

"That's better." I mumbled. I went back to my room and took a shower. After that, I changed into the usual jogging pants and sleeveless tee. I sat on the bed reading a book while sipping vanilla tea. It was a tea I invented. I was bored one day and mixed some milk, vanilla and a special herb that would calm your nerves after a long day. It was a really sweet drinking which can be served cold and hot. I would always drink this whenever I'm tired or stressed.

I kept reading books until I got bored. I checked the clock to see it was only 9 pm. I sighed and took my white muffler.

I went out to the sakura tree and jumped up the branches. I breathed in the fresh cool air and I dozed off to sleep under the cherry blossoms.

I woke up with something pecking my shoulder. I pulled up my head and saw a black and yellow bird on my shoulder. I had my arms and legs dangling from the branch. I was really comfortable since I've been sleeping on tress before I got here.

My muffler was covering my head as I sat up and held up my finger. The bird sat on my finger and chirped a nice tune. I smiled at it and raised my finger making it fly away. I stretched my arms and almost fell out the tree when I heard Konohamaru call me.

"Hey Gaku! Let's train!" he shouted and I glared at him.

"Don't scare me like that!" I shouted and he snickered. I then got out the house and we trained at the edge of the lake.

Two days passed and the four of them weren't here yet. For the past days, Konohamaru and I have practically become brothers. We even help each other pull pranks on gramps. I started to feel at home again and the more time I spend with Konohamaru, the more I become childish. But I still have the hatred towards moon.

Today was a Wednesday and I just woke up. Unlike before, I woke up in bed. I got out and took a shower. I changed into black pants, a white sleeveless tee paired with a white long sleeved shirt that covered my hands. I put on black half-gloves and tied my muffler around my waist. I wore white leather boots.

After I was done, I went out the house and headed to gramps' office.

These past days, I became more acquainted with the other villagers and I was more comfortable around humans. I arrived at gramps' office to see him talking to a jounin about a big event. They were talking about some exam.

Well, I won't really care about some exam anyway.

"What exam?" I asked once I got in. they turned to me with surprise and the jounin bowed to gramps. He then walked up to me and bowed as well. I bowed back then he left.

"What was that about?" I asked gramps while closing the door. Gramps just smiled at me. I tilted my head in confusion and shrugged. Well, it wasn't my business anyway.

"Oh, your teammates will be back today." gramps said while sitting down. I nodded and sat down the sofa as well and rubbed my eyes.

"What time?"

"I'm not sure." Gramps replied. I nodded and got up.

"Well, I'll be going around the village. See Ya." I said and walked out the office.

As I was walking down the main gates, I saw silhouettes of four people at the gates. I smelled the air and recognized sensei's scent. I stopped at the guard house.

"Oh, Gakuren! Hey what's up! You've been the talk of the town you know!" Hughes said and messed up my hair.

"Argh! Hughes!" I yelled with a smile and pulled away from his hold.

"Well, it looks like all the girls have fallen for you." Gon teased.

"Ah, jeez." I couldn't say anything else since it was really embarrassing for me to hear that.

"Heyyyy, Gakuren!" I turned to the four people approaching the gates and saw my new teammates. Sakura was waving to me with sensei next to her and what shocked me was Sasuke's arm over Naruto's shoulders and he was limping. I wonder what happened.

As they approached, I smiled at them.

"Well, took you guys long enough. I've been training with Konohamaru for these past few days." I said with a smile.

"What happened?" I asked. Sensei explained to me everything about their mission in the land of the waves and how Tazuna was being tracked down by a ninja. Etc...

"Really? Wow." I said. "Zabuza? I think I've met him before." I said thoughtfully.

"HUH?!" the four of them gasped. I blinked at their reaction.

"Yeah, I remember. I was at the land of the waves looking for some food and once I left, I met a man named Zabuza. I have to say, that guy was a challenge. He tried to kill me for no reason at all." I said with a grin.

"You… actually fought that man? No way!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Well it wasn't easy." I said, recalling how many scars and cuts I got thanks to his gigantic sword.

"Got that right." I heard Sasuke mumble. I looked at his ankle and realized it was broken. I approached him and leaned down.

"Stay still." I ordered and put my hand on his ankle. After a second, I could feel the skin on his ankle get hotter.

I heard him whimper a bit.

After another second, I put my hand away and stood up.

"Try to stand on it." I said and with caution, he propped himself up on his ankle.

It seemed he had no trouble so he was fine now. He looked up at me with wide eyes.

"How'd you-"

"An ability of our family." I said and he nodded. "Thanks." He said.

"Hey, you guys should come in now." Hughes said and we all went in.

We were walking around the village, sensei was supposed to eat some barbeque with us but he had to report to gramps. So it was only Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and me going around.

Naruto stretched his arms and snickered. "Ahh! It's good to be home! So Gakuren, what have you been doing while we weren't here?" he asked.

"Not much. I've been training with Konohamaru." I said flatly. I was looking ahead when a group of girls suddenly giggled loudly and looked at me.

"Hi Gakuren." One girl greeted flirtingly. She wasn't really my type and I don't want a relationship right now. I gave her a small expressionless smile.

"Well, you've gotten popular." Sasuke chuckled. I rolled my eyes at him.

We were at the barbeque shop now and I treated them to some food since they just came back from a-well…deadly mission. If it concerned that Zabuza guy, ten I'm sure it was really tough.

"Hey. What a surprise." I heard a man's voice say. I was next to the window so I craned my neck to see an unfamiliar face. He had a cigarette lit and he had a beard.

"Hi Azuma sensei!" Sakura greeted.

"Hey Sakura." He greeted and looked at me. He smiled widely. "Ah, the grandson of the 3rd! Nice to meet you Gakuren, I'm Azuma." He said and reached out to shake my hand. I stood up and shook hands with him.

"It's nice to meet you too Azuma sensei." I said and he chuckled. "Well, I'm treating Shikamaru and Choji right now. So, see you guys around." Azuma sensei said and left us to our food.

While we were eating, we got closer to each other. Naruto kept on bothering me so I tried to sock food down his throat. Sakura laughed and said she and I will get along well (since she always 'disciplines' Naruto.) Sasuke laughed sometimes and we both know how it feels to lose our families. It was amazing how long his anger for his brother; Itachi existed.


	4. I meet my Fans

CHAPTER 4:

We stayed there for a long time chatting with each other. While I was happily drinking water, my eyes grew wide & I gagged on the water when I saw Konohamaru running from a herd of angry looking bulls.

The reason? There was a white paper with a huge red dot on it.

"HELPPP!" Konohamaru yelled while running like a madman.

I managed to swallow the water but still gagged.

"Whoa, Gakuren! Slow down!" Sakura shouted & rubbed my back while I coughed uncontrollably. I looked out the window teary eyed. I opened the window which was luckily big enough for me to fit through. I jumped through with my heart racing. Konohamaru must've been running for a long time now. I managed to see his breathing & saw he was heaving heavily.

I ran with all my might & turned to the street where the bulls turned.

"Gakuren!" I heard Sakura yell. I didn't bother to look back; I turned to an alley & exited to the hot springs. Unfortunately, Konohamaru turned on a dead end.

He faced the bulls teary eyed & saw me. I stared at him with frantic eyes & jumped up the air. I landed in front of Konohamaru & the bulls glared at me. I glared back.

I growled at them with my hands spread out defensively. If they charged me now, I would be fine but Konohamaru will be crushed by the force.

I thought of shielding him & immediately, a clear barrier appeared before him. I would be fine if the bulls charge me but I will never be able to bear seeing Konohamaru hurt. I know we've been together for only a few days but I see him as my little brother now & anyone who harms him will be severely punished.

"Go away." I told the bulls through my teeth & they all froze. After what seemed like a very long minute, the bulls turned & I relaxed.

I made the barrier go down & I took a shaken Konohamaru in my arms & headed to the bridge behind me. While I was walking, Konohamaru tensed.

"Ga-Gaku…" he said. I turned & saw the bulls facing us, angry. What? Why won't they go away? Then the next second was too fast. The bulls charged us & I thought of the barrier again. I crouched down with Konohamaru under me.

I held his head to my chest & felt the hooves of the bulls stomping the barrier. Although I wouldn't be harmed, it still hurt a bit. I tried to focus & keep the barrier from collapsing & after a second, the hooves stopped. I looked up to see the bulls running towards the forest. My back was sore. I must've been out of shape. I sighed with relief & looked down at Konohamaru. He was crying now, terrified. When I saw the paper taped on his back, rage filled me.

"Konohamaru…" I said & he slowly looked up at me.

"Who put that on your back?" I asked through my teeth. He looked at me with nervous eyes.

"Umm… We were just playing around. My friend thought it wouldn't work on the bulls so I put it on." He sniffled. I was about to yell at him for agreeing to them. But he was already scared. I don't want to frighten him even more. I sighed instead.

"Please, never agree to those kinds of idiotic things again. You should be thankful you passed by the shop or else you would be a Konohamaru pancake right now." I said with worried eyes. He then looked down & I sat up. I messed up his hair & took down the paper.

"I'm sorry Gaku." He said. "It's fine." I replied.

Then there was a sharp pain on my back. I winced & Konohamaru looked at me, alarmed.

I looked at my back & my shirt was ripped. Even though I had that barrier, the hooves still went through it. I must've summoned a very weak barrier.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Yeah, don't worry. This is nothing." I replied.

"Gakuren...! Whoa." I heard Naruto say. I turned to them & they all had the look of surprise & amazement in their faces.

"Gakuren what did you do to those bulls? Actually, where are they? You didn't make them disappear did you?" Naruto asked frantically looking for the bulls.

I laughed at him. "Don't worry they're in the forest. They won't bother anyone for a bit I guess." I said. The three of them approached me & Naruto slapped my back.

"Good job buddy!" he said. I froze & kept from shouting at him. I glared at him.

"Can you not do that? Don't you even see that I was stepped on by a stampede?" I growled at him & they all looked at my back.

They winced at me.

"Just take this shirt off. Your inner shirt isn't _that_ wrecked." Sasuke said & I raised my brows.

"No way," I replied.

"Why? Afraid the girls will chase you?" he teased. I rolled my eyes at him. Well, I can't go around the village walking around like this. Besides, I do have my muffler. And, I can't just snap my fingers like I usually do. I'm outside my house right now so it's impossible to do that.

I sighed & took the long sleeved shirt off, revealing my pale shoulders. It was good the sleeveless wasn't ripped at all so I don't have to freeze.

Sasuke & Naruto glared at me while Sakura blushed.

"We get it. You work out." Naruto hissed. I stared at them & shook my head, smiling.

"Well? Let's go. I wanna get out of these clothes." I said & Konohamaru jumped to my side. It looks like he's calmed down. I waited for the three of them & let Sakura & Naruto go ahead. Sasuke stayed next to me & Konohamaru.

We were walking through the village now & I was heading to gramps' office so Konohamaru can take a rest. I thought it would be really easy to just walk through the village wearing something like this. Everyone stared at me. Occasionally girls would flirt with me & so on.

I kept my head down. This was so embarrassing. It was a good thing I wore another shirt under.

Sasuke kept on smiling. "Relax Gakuren." He said, sensing my anxiety.

"How can I do that when everyone's staring at me?" I hissed & he chuckled.

A group of girls giggled once we passed. "Hi Gakuren…" One of them said with flirty eyes. I gave her a small smile & hung my head. This is so tiring.

We reached gramps' office & he gasped at Konohamaru & me.

"What in the world did you two do?" he asked.

"I'll explain." Konohamaru told me.

"Right Gakuren, Iruka sensei wants to talk to you back in the academy. Go on now." Gramps said making us leave.

I closed the door & we left for the academy. I'm not worried about Konohamaru. He's a tough kid.

While we walked to the academy, Ino caught sight of me & blushed. "He-hey guys." She greeted weakly. I learned from these past days that that was her name since I came to the flower shop now & then to buy new flowers & seeds to put in the garden.

"Hey ino!" Naruto yelled.

"Hey ino." I replied.

"Hi ino." Sakura hissed. I waited for sasuke's response but he said nothing.

"Hey Gakuren, you're not going to the shop anymore." She said.

"Ah, right. Sorry. I've been training with Konohamaru all day." I replied. Ino nodded & we bid good bye and continued to the academy.

"You work in the flower shop?" Naruto asked with a goofy grin.

"No you idiot. I buy flowers there sometimes. I like their roses." I said.

"I didn't know you liked flowers." Sakura said.

"Well, just roses." I replied. We all chatted about other things until we reached the academy & right behind the fences was Iruka sensei waiting for me with his arms crossed in front of him. We went in the academy & went to the backyard where he was.

"Sensei, you wanted to talk about something?" I asked.

"Yeah. I want you to run 50 laps." He said nonchalantly.

"Huh? Why?" I asked him.

"Well, Konohamaru's been telling me you were training him. That means you aren't able to train yourself right?" he asked & I nodded.

"Right, I want you to run 50 laps but… you have to run in a human pace. Turn off your griffin abilities." He said & my mouth fell.

Griffins _can_ turn off their abilities actually. But, seriously? 50 laps?

"How about we take baby steps sensei? 30 laps?" I asked but he simply shook his head. I sighed.

"Fine then." I replied. I thought of my abilities 'disappearing' and I felt myself change. I felt so weak. I took off my muffler & started my laps.

It was already noon & I was sweating like crazy. I panted like a horse.

Actually I sounded like a guy who smoked 10 times a day.

I stopped when I got to my 30th lap. I fell on the ground with my butt & took a deep painful breath.

"Waah!" I shouted. "Ah, jeez." I could barely say anything else.

"Keep running." Iruka sensei said. My mouth twitched when I saw the four of them sitting under a huge umbrella while drinking lemonade. They even had blankets on the ground. They looked like they were having fun in the beach while I was running in hell. I rolled my eyes at them & breathed in & out. The heat wasn't helping me. I badly wanted to turn the air here into ice. I looked up at the sky & right on cue, a cool gust of wind tackled me. Ahh, Thank you God!

I got my energy again & kept running. After an hour, I finished all my laps. I stopped in front of them & collapsed on Naruto.

"Wahh! Yuck! Hey get off Gakuren! Gross, you're really sweaty!" he yelled, trying to push me off. I simply smiled & closed my eyes to rest. I lied on top of his stomach like a little cat until he was able to push me out into the hot sun.

I chuckled at him & Iruka sensei threw me a towel. Right when I was wiping my sweat, Naruto tapped my shoulder and pointed to the fence. I turned & jumped to see tons of girls on the other side of the fence.

Once I made eye contact with them, they all screamed like crazy fan girls.

"Oh my god." Was the only thing I could say.

"Looks like you have a fan club Gakuren." Sensei teased. I glared at him & he gave me some lemonade.

"So, sensei I'm sure this isn't the only thing you wanted to talk about with me." I said & I was right. Sensei sighed & nodded.

"That's right. It's about Moon." He said. I blinked & tensed.

"What about him?"

"What will you do once you find him? We're all worried about you." he said. I blinked.

"Umm, I'll kill him." I said in a questioning tone.

"You don't seem so sure." Sensei chuckled.

"Well, to be honest, I'm starting to think it's a waste of my time." I said, sipping lemonade. All of a sudden Sasuke grabbed my shirt with his fist. I stared at him, wide eyed & so did everyone else.

"Sasuke…" sensei was about to pull Sasuke away but I raised my hand, telling him not to interfere.

"Why would you do that? Why would you just let him get away with it?" Sasuke growled through his teeth.

I stared at him expressionlessly. "I don't know why I would do that. First of all, you didn't let me finish." I said, gently pushing off his hand & he let go.

"Calm down first okay?" I told him & he sat down. They all stared at me.

"Okay, first- I don't know why I would let him go. It just might be because I'm sick & tired of using all my time training myself just to kill Moon. Of course, getting my entire clan killed is a very big thing but, I forgot on what they would think of me." I said & Sasuke froze.

"If I killed Moon, what would I do next? What would I be after that? I don't know. One part of me wants moon to disappear from existence while one part hesitates." I said.

"Hesitates?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. Once I kill him I just might end up thinking everything I did up to that point has been useless. Something like that."

"But you killed him. It was your goal. How was that useless?" Sasuke asked me.

"Honestly, I don't know, it's really hard to explain. Maybe I would that way because all the challenges were over. I dunno. But this I'll say, once Moon does anything to hurt anyone I love again, I _will _kill him." I said flatly & finished my lemonade.

If you people are wondering why I would want to stop from my goal of killing Moon, I really don't know anymore. Once I'm done with him, what would I do next?

Go home & tell everyone-"hey everyone, I just killed my brother!"

And after that, what's next. But I'll just go with what I feel is best. If I want to kill Moon then I will. If I don't-well, I'll have to think of something about that.

"Anyway, let's not talk about what I would want to do next. I'm really tired." I said & lied on my back.

"Okay then. You rest up." sensei said, patting my head. We stayed there until early noon & once the sun got higher, we all decided to go home.

We said our goodbye's to Iruka sensei & left for home.

While the four of us were walking together, someone tackled me from behind. I looked down to see Konohamaru hugging my stomach.

"Hey Gaku!" he greeted. I messed up his hair. "Hey Konohamaru." I said.

He suddenly started dragging me away from the others.

"Hey where you guys going?" Sakura asked me.

I turned to the three of them & shrugged my shoulders. I turned back to konohamaru. "Where _are_ we going?" I asked him.

"I have to go to school! Can you take me there? Pleeeeease?" he asked with a huge grin. I blinked.

"I just came from the academy. Plus, you could already go there even before I arrived here. Why ask me to come along all of a sudden?" I asked & he let go of my hand.

"Okay...the truth is… my friends don't believe you're my brother. And they don't believe I can make you come with me to school. And right now, I'm starting to believe I'll lose to my classmates! So come with me please?" he explained. I blinked at him & sighed deeply.

"Fine then. I'll come with you." I said, giving up.

"YAY!" konohamaru yelled while jumping up & down. "Oh, you guys should come too! Everyone's a fan of squad 7! So come with us!" Konohamaru said.

"Yeah, why not come with us guys? It'll be fun." I teased. They all looked at each other. If I was going to be dragged to school, I won't go alone.

"Don't even try to run cause' I'll catch you & drag you with us anyway." I threatened. They shuddered & immediately agreed.

"It'll only be for a bit right?" I asked Konohamaru while we walked back to the academy.

"Yeah! I'll just show those guys that you are my brother & that I'm friends with squad 7. After that, they'll think twice about pulling any prank on me. Wahahaha!" he laughed. How mean, he was using us as shields.

"Whatever." I mumbled.

We got to the academy & Konohamaru led us to his classroom. He slammed the door open & all the kids looked at us.

"Everyone, meet squad 7!" he yelled & pushed us in.

"Hey guys! I'm Naruto Uzumaki; I'll be the 5th hokage someday! Believe it!" Naruto yelled but all the kids ignored him & went straight to the three of us.

"Wow! It's squad 7! Cool!" one kid cried.

"Hey Konohamaru, you just dragged Gakuren the others here did you?" another asked.

"Hey! What are you saying? Of course not! I told you, Gaku's my brother & happily agreed to come with me. Right Gaku?" Konohamaru turned to me & I weakly nodded my head.

I sighed & once I looked down, I saw a tiny girl wearing a pink frilly dress with her short brown hair in pigtails. I blinked at her & smiled.

"umm, hi." I greeted awkwardly. I wasn't really good with talking to kids. To my surprise, she suddenly giggled & stretched her arms up at me. I blinked & froze.

"Hey, Gakuren, she wants you to carry her." Sakura said. I turned to her with a raised brow & she giggled. Sasuke chuckled & raised his brow to me.

"You're scared of carrying her?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah." I simply said.

"Well you're honest." He replied & I chuckled. I looked back down at the little girl & she then waddled to my knees & hugged me. She was so short the top of her head only reached my knees. She looked up at me & giggled once more.

"Hi." She said with a high voice.

I wanted to carry her but kids smaller than Konohamaru; I find them hard to carry. I stretched my arms to her awkwardly but I gave up. Sakura giggled & walked up to me. She took the little girl in her arms.

"Hold out your arms." She ordered. I did so & she put the girl in my arms. At first I was holding her awkwardly but I managed to fix her so I held her with one arm & the other holding her up.

Once she saw how high up she was, she giggled happily & started playing with my hair.

I blinked & looked at Sakura & Sasuke. They both laughed at my awkwardness & I smiled sheepishly at them.

"Big bwuther." She said with her squeaky voice. I suddenly found myself smiling.

"Yeah, big brother. What's your name?" I asked nicely.

"Caroline." She said.

"Hi Caroline. I'm Gakuren." I said & lightly pinched her rosy cheeks, making her laugh.

"Hey Gakuren, pay attention to us too." I heard one kid say. I looked at them & they were looking at me with pouty eyes. I chuckled nervously.

"Well okay then." I said & sat down the wooden floor with Caroline in my arms.

"Can you tell us things about being a ninja?" one girl asked. I started telling them how hard it is to be a ninja & they should study well so they can be ninjas like us. The others asked Sakura things about chakra control which she was best at & others talked to Sasuke (mostly little girls). But poor Naruto was over at the chairs, glaring at us.

I felt bad for him. Not even one kid was talking to him. To my surprise, other kids actually walked towards him. I could see surprise even on his face. I heard them asking him why he was such a loser & so on. I chuckled at that & they asked Naruto & I to have a mock fight. I happily obliged & so did he. But the fight ended immediately when I threw him down the floor paralyzing him. I apologized to him since I put in too much force.

After a few minutes, their teacher arrived & told us to go home since we would distract the kids.

"Aww, do they have to sensei?" one little girl asked. "Can Gakuren stay at least?"

I chuckled at them. "You guys have to learn & you won't be able to learn anything if you don't listen to your sensei." I said.

"Aww, okay then." One kid said.

"We'll be going then." Sakura said & we all waved goodbye.

"Bye guys, Konohamaru, don't cause any trouble." I said.  
"Yeah, yeah I won't." he said dismissively.

Ungrateful little troll.

Before we left, Caroline approached me & asked me to give her a goodbye kiss. Naruto & the others tried to hold in their laughter unsuccessfully.

I glared at them & leaned down to Caroline & kissed her forehead making laugh loudly.

"Hey, me too Gakuren!" one girl cried. One after another they started yelling the same thing.

"Sorry, kids, we have to go training now! Bye!" Sakura said & we said goodbye to the sensei & left hurriedly.

Once we were out at the streets, I noticed Naruto was really gloomy. Poor thing didn't have anyone talking to him.

"Hey Naruto, you okay?" I asked him. He looked up at me with a pout. "It's unfair that you guys have fans. Not one kid even approached me asking a proper ninja question."

"But one kid _did_ approach you. I saw it." I said, trying to make him feel better. It was weird to see him not acting stupid.

"Yeah but he asked why I was such a loser!" he growled. I chuckled at him & patted his back. "Relax kid." I simply said since there was nothing else I can say.

"Hey Gakuren, where do you live anyway?" Naruto asked me gaining Sakura & Sasuke's attention.

"Why do you want to know?" I asked suspiciously. He just might come at night & start pulling little tricks on me. I should start tightening up my security once I get home.

"Yeah, that's right. Where do you live?" Sakura asked.

"Why are you guys so curious?"

"Why won't you tell us?" Sasuke asked with a smile.

"Cause' I just know once I tell you, Naruto will start pulling pranks while I'm asleep." I said flatly.

"No, I won't! I promise! It's for emergencies you see." Naruto said.

"What emergency?"

"For when I need to get to the closest bathroom." He said. My mouth twitched & I hit his head with a hard punch.

"Idiot. If you even needed a toilet, I'll _never_ let you use mine." I teased.

"Oh come on, just tell us." Sakura begged.

"Sorry. If you really want to find out, find it yourselves." I said.

"Deal! If we find your house, you'll make us food!" Naruto yelled. I raised my brow with a smile. "Yeah, what he said!" Sakura said.

"I agree." Sasuke agreed.

"Deal. Good luck then. If you catch me, I'll bring you to my house. See Ya." I told them & with a wink, I ran for it leaving them in the dust using my normal (griffin) speed.


	5. Meet my Stunt Double

CHAPTER 5:

I ran far from my house to lead them away. I wasn't hiding anything there anyway. I simply just don't want to cook food for them. I could feel them getting closer to me & I simply summoned a strong gust of wind to slow them down. I haven't been in something like this for a long time. It was getting really fun.

I turned to the next alley & I thought of making a shadow clone of me. It was basically a dummy but it can move like a griffin & it's harmless.

Another me appeared in a second wearing the same black pants & white sleeveless shirt. It also wore the same muffler around its neck, black gloves & platform boots. Only I made its face different. I wanted them to catch it so, if they catch it, I made the face appear like it was drawn by a kid. It had the same hair & other things but for a face it was paper with eyes & a mouth with its tongue sticking out.

It separated from me & to see if it would work, I hid behind a dark wall & saw the scene from the other alley.

Naruto tackled it from up in the air with Sakura & Sasuke right behind.

"Okay Gakuren, we got you! You lose! You'll be making us some food!" Naruto cried in victory but once he turned its face, he froze & I saw Sasuke's mouth twitch.

"A doll?" Sasuke hissed.

"No way! He tricked us!" Sakura cried. I couldn't help but silently laugh like a madman. After a while, I decided to leave & go home. But once I turned, I felt their presence. Before Naruto could kick my head, I raised my hand & pushed him to the hard rock wall. Next I turned to Sasuke trying to tackle me. I grabbed his arm & threw him up the air.

Next was Sakura. I waited for her but she didn't attack. I decided to go now before she attacks. But once I turned to the next alley leading home, Sakura jumped me from above & landed on my shoulders.

"Gack!" I cried & to get her off me, I used ice to get her off. I made my shoulders ice cold.

"Waaa!So cold!" she cried & jumped off my shoulders. I smiled at her & she smiled back.

"That was a neat trick Gakuren, but you didn't think we'll fall for that did you?" she asked.

"Well, I'm impressed." I simply said. I felt Naruto coming & Sasuke too. At the same time, they both tried to tackle me form above but I simply summoned a gust of wind forcing them to fall on the ground hard. They both fell on Sakura instead of me.

"Oww! Get off me!" Sakura shouted.

"Hahaha! Come on guys! I promise I'll make food for you. So come and get me!" I cried & ran again.

I got to the edge of my forest & waited for them. I wanted to pull a trap on those kids.

I sat up on the trees & I was really thankful that there were so many leaves, once you hide inside, no one will see you especially if you stay really still.

After a minute, they all arrived coming from separate directions.

"Found him yet?" Sakura asked. it looks like they badly want that food.

"Nope, he's too fast." Sasuke said

"Grr! Why does he have to use his powers? Unfair!" Naruto shouted. The scene was so amusing I couldn't help but laugh again. I decided I was getting tired so I'll just leave them there. I summoned a strong gust of wind making the leaves sway violently. The three of them covered their faces from the debris & I made the wind come from the opposite direction so they wouldn't know where I was.

While the wind was whistling & the leaves were swaying, I jumped out & with my speed & I ran home. I jumped over the small lake & jumped over the high wall of my house. I sighed & since I didn't feel their presence, they still haven't found me.

"ahh, shouldn't Sakura remember where I lived? She was the first one to see me come out from this place. Well, too bad. I want some Vanilla tea." I said to myself.

I went in my house & started mixing some cream, milk & herbs into a pot filled with hot water. I left the water to boil & went to my room.

Once I got there, I could sense Naruto & the other's presence. So Sakura _did_ remember where I live.

I opened the glass doors to the garden & I saw Naruto hide under the veranda. I shook my head & sighed.

"Whoo. It's hot in here. I'll just leave this open." I said. I turned back to the kitchen.

"Wow. He didn't notice us. He must be really tired." Sakura whispered.

"Well, what now?" Naruto whispered back.

"Why don't you guys come in? You look ridiculous hiding under there." I said loud enough for them to hear.

I poured some tea into four cups & turned back to them. I leaned on the counter with my back & the three of them slowly came out from under.

"You knew?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course I did. I just wanted to play with you guys a little." I laughed & they all glared at me. "Well? Are you coming in or not? If not then close the door." I said dismissively while sipping tea.

Naruto immediately jumped in & ran to the main room.

"Wow! Your house is really nice Gakuren! What's that smell? It smells really nice." Naruto asked sniffing the air.

Sakura & Sasuke came in as well & sat on the cushions next to Naruto. I went back to the kitchen to get the tea.

"It's Vanilla tea." I said while bringing the tea to them. "by the way, don't drink too much or you'll be knocked out immediately." I reminded. I put down the tray on the table & they each took one.

"What do you mean knocked out?" Sasuke asked.

"I mean, if you drink all of that, you'll fall asleep." I explained. "So don't drink too much." I said & finished my tea.

"But you just drank everything. Why are you still awake?" Naruto pointed.

"That's because I drink this almost all the time. So basically, I just feel a tiny bit sleepy. Don't worry, I won't collapse." I said and they all drunk the tea at the same time.

"Wow. This is delicious." Sakura said.

"Where'd you buy this?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"I didn't buy it. I invented it. I was bored one day so I started playing with things in the fridge." I laughed.

"Well, it's really good. Right Sasuke?" Sakura asked. Sasuke simply nodded once.

We started talking about unimportant things but as I looked at the clock, it was now 5 pm.

"Hey, Gakuren, don't you have anyone you like in the village?" Naruto asked me with a huge grin.

"Nope." I simply said.

"Yeah right. You like ino don't you?" he asked. I almost spat out my tea.

"What? Ino? No. I just buy flowers from her." I replied.

"Then who _do_ you like?" Sakura asked. I sighed at them.

"I told you, I don't like anybody that way. I simply haven't met that person & I don't think I have the time for a girl." I replied & went into the kitchen.

"What do you guys want to eat?" I asked, getting them to drop the current subject.

Naturally, it worked.

"Ooh, ohh! What about some ramen?" Naruto yelled & ran into the kitchen next to me. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Can't you think about anything else except ramen?" I asked & he shook his head.

"I like ramen. Let's just eat that." Sakura said from back in the main room.

"Sasuke?" I asked.

"It's fine." He replied. I shrugged my shoulders & took out the ingredients for ramen. I made it enough for five people & once I was done, I poured them in four separate bowls.

Once Naruto started, he & Sasuke started competing with each other. They both ate the ramen with such speed, I was afraid they might barf on my floor. Sakura & I stared at both of them & after a few minutes, the huge bowl filled with ramen was now empty. Sakura & I were only able to finish one bowl.

"I want some more!" Sasuke & Naruto yelled.

"Shut up you two. That was the last of my ramen." I growled. Sasuke realized he looked stupid & sat back down then cleared his throat.

Naruto on the other hand rubbed his stomach & belched loudly. I took the extra pillow on the floor but Sakura beat me to it with a very strong punch to Naruto's face.

"You disgust me Naruto." She hissed. I chuckled at her.

"Thanks sakura."

"No problem." She replied with a smile. Naruto got back up with a goofy grin.

"That was delicious Gakuren! Make more tomorrow!" he exclaimed. This time I was able to throw the pillow to naruto's face. It hit him so hard; he fell on the floor with such force, his head made a loud BANG! But I could care less about how much it hurts.

"What do you think of me? A ramen shop?" I growled. He got back up & we continued talking about unimportant things. They stayed in my house until 6.

"Hey, I gotta go. My parents might be looking for me. Thanks for the food Gakuren." sakura said.

"I'm going too. Thanks too." Sasuke said & they both got up. We all got up & I walked them to the front doors. I pushed open the wooden doors & sakura and Sasuke walked out together. Sakura stopped & turned back to me.

"Hey Naruto, let's go." She said. I realized Naruto was still standing next to me. I slowly turned to him with a glare.

"Right Naruto, what are you doing?" I hissed. Naruto simply put his hands behind his head; a completely relaxed gesture.

"I'll sleep over here for tonight." He said nonchalantly. I scowled at him & if I was a cartoon, those little veins would appear on my head.

"And did you really think I'll let you sleep over here?" I growled.

"Please? I like your house & it's really nice here." He begged on his knees. I scowled down at him.

"Would you like to stay in the garden?" I asked.

"What? Outside? No way!" he yelled.

"Then forget it." I said & grabbed the collar of his jacket singlehandedly & carried him like that & simply threw him out my house. I shut the doors before he could come back in.

"Good night guys!" I called. I heard Naruto grunt.

"Bye Gakuren!" Sakura called.

"Bye." Sasuke simply said. I jumped up the wall & sat on top of it. I watched them disappear back into the village & once they were gone, I jumped down & went back in my house. I took a bath & looked at my back. There were only a few scratches & bruises so, I guess I'll be fine by tomorrow.


	6. Beating up Naruto is Really helpful

CHAPTER 6:

2 days later…

I woke up to the scent of another person in the house. My eyes flew open & I jumped out of bed. I followed the scent to the garden & went to see who was dumb enough to go into a griffin's property & for some reason; I wasn't in a good mood. I slammed open the doors & hanging on the branches of the sakura tree was Naruto.

"You idiot, Naruto! I told you we should've just knocked on his door! He's gonna kill us! I bet he's still in a bad mood!" Sakura yelled from above the stone wall with Sasuke next to her.

After everything that happened to me yesterday, they had the nerve to wake me up this early in the morning & come in by sneaking in?

Yesterday was the worst day of my life. One accident after another happened to me because of the Terror Three. (Obviously Sakura, Sasuke & Naruto) yesterday we had to take care of bad mannered kids & the three of them landed all the bad things on me.

First, Naruto almost impaled me with a kunai knife when he was teaching the kids, next, Sakura accidentally poured really hot water on me when she tried to calm them down, Naruto managed to trip me into the hot springs after sakura poured hot water on me then I almost got punished by Iruka sensei because Naruto just _had_ to teach bad kids a very good prank.

And, it wouldn't occur to you that Sasuke would accidentally do something but he managed to anger a bee's nest when he tried to get one of the kids out of the tree & they came after me instead of him.

I guess that's why I'm in a really bad mood. Because of all that, I feel really tired & my head hurts thanks to those three. I told them not to accept it but they just _had_ to accept that mission.

I hung my head & grit my teeth.

I summoned a very strong gust of wind & they all fell on the grass, landing on their faces in front of me. After what happened to _me_, _they_ should feel my pain too.

I gripped the doorway & the hard wood snapped & crumbled. I glared at all of them & they must've known I was there since they all froze & won't even look up.

"What do you think you're doing sneaking around my house?" I growled through my teeth. They all slowly looked up at me & once they saw me, I could see their faces go pale.

Sakura laughed nervously. "H-Hi Gakuren. It's a nice day isn't it?" she asked with a scared smile & started choking Naruto. I narrowed my eyes at them.

"What do you want? And _please_ refrain from giving me _more_ injuries today." I said angrily.

"umm, we're really sorry about yesterday. We'll try to make it up to you today." Sakura said.

I sighed & walked up to them but they stayed on the ground, kneeling. I guess I was just throwing my bad day on them. "You don't have to. It's fine. Sorry for pouring my annoyance on you guys." I said with a smile. Sakura smiled widely at me & Sasuke gave me a small but thankful smile. And if Naruto dares to ask me to make ramen, I swear I'll beat him until he can't move.

"And please, refrain from causing accidents & _let me cool down at bit_." I reminded with a smile.

But trust me, behind the smile, the message is: "_do anything else to annoy me more & I'll throw you out immediately."_

"Hey Gakuren now that you're calmer, make us some ramen!" Naruto yelled to me with a carefree tone.

I'm going to kill him.

As I said, I beat him until he couldn't move. I dusted my hands together & stretched my arms.

"Ahh! I feel much better! Come on in." I said with a huge smile. Sakura & Sasuke stared at me with alarmed eyes & stood up then backed away from me a little.

Sakura laughed nervously. "Are you sure?" she asked. I felt she was asking if it was okay for them to actually move. I chuckled at them.

"Of course. Thanks to Naruto, I feel much better. Beating him is _quite_ therapeutic." I said with a thoughtful look.

"h-hey, I can't move. Please let me out." Naruto grumbled from the ground. I won't tell you all the details on how I beat him but bottom line is, I partially buried him under the ground until only his head was exposed. Now that I felt a little better, I decided to let him out.

I raised my finger & the ground around him opened up into a wide circle but instead of letting him crawl out, I made the ground push him up the air. He flew up & landed on the ground with a loud THUD!

He flinched & looked up at me. "ahaha. Forget that ramen comment." He said & his face fell to the grass.

I took a deep breath & grinned. After lots of assuring I won't do anything bad to them, they went in my house & I poured them some warm ordinary tea then took a bath.

I wore black pants, a black sleeveless shirt paired with a black jacket along with all that, I wore black gloves & red combat boots. Yeah, I look like I just came from a funeral. So what?

Once I was done, I came back to the main room to see the three of them sipping tea completely relaxed.

Sakura looked up at me. "It was naruto's Idea to sneak in." she pointed to Naruto. Naruto looked at me with panicked eyes. He's lucky that I've calmed down after that therapeutic beating earlier.

"It's fine. What do you want anyway?" I asked them & poured myself some tea as well.

"Kakashi sensei wants to talk to us about something so we came to get you." Naruto said.

I raised my brow. "What time should we be there?" I asked them while sipping tea.

"Well, right now it's 9:50. So we should leave now cause' he told us to arrive at 10." Sakura replied. I nodded my head & stood up, finishing my tea.

"Okay. Let's go then." I simply said. They all got up & we all left to the meeting place.


	7. I almost start a Barbecue party

CHAPTER 7:

I leaned on the bridge's red wooden railing with Sasuke next to me while Naruto paced around.

"Argh! Where is he? It's been 50 minutes after we got here & he told us not to be late!" Naruto growled.

"Naruto, will you shut up?" Sakura yelled with annoyance. It looks like she was getting impatient too. I glanced at Sasuke & knew he was getting annoyed by those two instead of waiting for Kakashi sensei. I already knew he was like this so I got used to it.

After a few more minutes, a puff of smoke appeared up on the bridge's wooden arch & Kakashi sensei appeared.

"Sorry I'm late. I saw a black cat so I had to take the long way around." he lied. My mouth twitched. He really hasn't changed after all those years.

"LIAR!" both Sakura & Naruto yelled. Sensei jumped down & landed in front of us.

"Well Sensei, what'd you want to talk about?" I asked him.

"Oh, I just wanted to tell you guys that the Chuunin exams are starting." He said & I felt the atmosphere get tense.

I blinked and my brows knit when I saw the three of them. They looked like sensei said there was a bomb around instead of an exam.

I turned back to sensei. "What's the chuunin exam?" I asked & they all stared at me like I've gone mad.

"What?" I asked them.

"You don't know what the chuunin exams are?" Sasuke asked & I shook my head.

"Oh that's right. The chuunin exams are exam where you Genin are tested of your abilities of being a chuunin." Sensei explained.

"Oh. Cool." I said with a smile. Naruto snickered all of a sudden.

"Right Gakuren? Cool! The chuunin exams! Finally I've been training for this day all my life!" he yelled excitedly.

"The exams huh?" sakura asked nervously.

"Well? What about it? Do we have to do something?" I asked.

"Nope, I was just ordered to tell you guys so you're all ready. Ninjas from every village will be arriving starting today so don't be alarmed." He said.

"Why here?" I asked.

"The Leaf Village is hosting the exams this year so... well, you get the picture." He said with a smile in his eye.

I nodded once. An exam huh? This sounds fun.

"What kind of exam is it anyway?" I asked.

"I can't tell you." he simply said & I flinched.

Thanks so much for your info sensei.

"Okay, you can go home now. Do well in training!" he said & he disappeared.

I sighed. He sure does a quick getaway.

The four of us walked together while we went home. I didn't think of the exams that much & instead I thought of nothing other than what I should do today.

They all went home but I felt like walking around for a bit so they left me in the park.

I decided to relax under the shadow of the forest trees so I went to the closest training grounds & found a tree to relax in when all of a sudden I felt the air change like there's someone else here other than me.

I whirled & caught the shuriken just in time & threw it down at the ground with my normal strength making the ground crack. I wanted to intimidate the enemy so he would lose the urge to fight.

I still wasn't in the mood to fight someone right now.

I caught sight of a ninja. He was wearing all black & a mask covered his mouth while a hat covered his head. I saw on his cloak he wasn't form here but it looks like he was from the village hidden in the rain.

He chuckled evilly at me & I glared at him. "You're pretty good kid. But not good enough!" he had such a raspy voice. Like he hasn't talked for ages & he was recovering from a sore throat.

At the last word he brought out an umbrella. It looked like an ordinary umbrella but with a hand sign, needles started flying out to me. I jumped up the air & aimed for the enemy. I straightened myself so I would hit the man with my feet. I fell through the air with jet speed & he was still able to dodge me. I landed on the ground with such force, the whole training grounds crumbled.

As the dust cleared, I was now standing on piles of rock while he stood opposite of me.

"What do you want? If you just want to fight me, I'm not in the mood to fight you… and let you live." I threatened. He just laughed at me & something inside me snapped.

I charged him & in a second, I was inches away from his face. I realized this wasn't a real ninja form the land of the rain. It was a transformation jutsu. But who is it?

Instead of punching him, I grabbed his cloak & held him up.

"Who are you? I know you're not really from the land of the rain. So spill or I just might end up injuring you really badly." I said angrily.

His eyes smiled & he made a hand sign. One second, I had him in my grip but then he was gone. I blinked & grit my teeth.

"Annoying," I mumbled. But who was that? It was only a transformation jutsu. It then occurred to me. Sensei said the chuunin exams are starting & ninja's will start arriving starting form today. This must be a test for the leaf Genin to see if we're ready for the exams

I sighed & thanks to that person, I lost my appeal to relax so I decide to just go home & try to calm down.

I got to my forest & suddenly felt relaxed. I looked at the lake & saw it was glittering beautifully since it was sunny. I walked to the edge of the lake & sat on the soft grass. I took in the nice scenery & started feeling completely relaxed again. I ended up lying on the grass with my arms spread out.

I looked up at the sky & quietly watched the clouds.

I stayed there until I heard my stomach growl. It must be 12:00 now. I got up & went home. I decided to cook fried rice & reheat the fried chicken I bought yesterday.

I wolfed down the food & after that meal, I changed into my training clothes- jogging pants & a sleeveless tee. After a few minutes, I went out my house to run around the lake until it hurt to take in a breath.

After 300 laps, I was sweating heavily & my knees were starting to buckle & my legs were shaking. I fell on the grass at the edge of the lake & after a quick rest and water break, I started doing push up's, aim training & exercised my focus on using my griffin powers.

Whenever I practiced my griffin powers like controlling the elements & the animal summoning, I practiced in my backyard where I had enough space to fit even 5 elephants. (Yeah, my backyard is _that_ big. I just made a few minor adjustments earlier.)

I actually went overboard when I played with water. I made a water dog which was 5 times bigger than the normal dog & it almost destroyed my wall.

Making animals from elements is relatively easy so I rarely summon actual animals.

I decided to make a lion made of dirt next. I visualized the lion in my head & a mound appeared in the ground then it formed into a solid lion. It was taller than me but don't worry, I have total control over it. It came to life & the dirt lion yawned showing very long & sharp canines made of sharp rocks.

Don't think this lion won't kill you. It might be made of dirt but everything it does is exactly like a lion's & its bite force is the same as a lions.

So, if you see an animal made of leaves, water, fire, dirt or even air… I advise you to run for your life.

Since I practice this ability so frequently, I was able to make the animals _use_ elements too. For example, a fire lion can roar & give you a full blast of red hot fire or even if I wanted it to- it can spew out lava.

But I'm not that cruel.

My new dirt lion lied on the grass like how a lion king would. I suddenly heard a knock on the door. I thought of the lion to turn back into regular dirt & in a second, my lion had melted back into the earth.

I opened the door to see Iruka sensei.

"Hey, Gakuren." He greeted with a smile.

"Oh, hey sensei, come in." I said & he went in. He sat on the hard wooden floor & patted it, motioning me to sit next to him.

I sat & he turned to me. "Gakuren, about this chuunin exam, do you want to participate?" he asked with a serious face. I nodded immediately.

"Yes. I've been training actually." I said with a smile.

"You do know in these exams you could die right?" he asked. I blinked at him.

"Die?" I asked.

Sensei should've mentioned that.

"Nope, didn't know _that_. But, I want to be a chuunin. I can't stay a Genin for the rest of my life." I replied. He smiled at me with awe & patted my shoulder.

"Okay then. I just wanted to make sure you were ready for this." He said & got up to leave.

"Oh, by the way, if you use your powers, you have to do a fake hand sign so people won't get suspicious of you." he reminded. I nodded.

"What will I say if people ask what technique that is?" I asked.

"Well… just say it's a special jutsu only you can do." He simply said. I didn't know if the humans would actually buy it but I shrugged & nodded my head.

He then gave me a small smile & left. I blinked.

"That was it...? huh…" I mumbled to myself. I got up & went into my house. I checked the time & saw it was already 6:30. I tilted my head in disbelief & looked out the glass doors. It was already dark outside. I can't believe I trained for that long.

I shrugged my shoulders & took a bath. As usual, I wore what I wear to sleep-sweat pants & a sleeveless shirt. Once I was done, I ate some eggs & bacon after that, I drank my vanilla tea while reading my books.

I kept on reading books I haven't read until my eyes felt heavy. I looked at the time & it was already 9 pm. I decided to hit the sack & put the book I was reading atop the mountain of books I've read. It's amazing how many things you can do when you're bored! I then dozed to sleep.

I woke up & heard someone yelling my name outside. I groaned & covered my head with my pillow. I listened to the voice & realized it was Konohamaru.

I sighed deeply & got out of bed. I opened the wooden doors & Konohamaru ran into my room. I blinked & thought I was still dreaming.

I rubbed my eyes & yawned. "Hey, Konohamaru, what are you doing this early?" I called but he shushed me. My brows knit together & I went in my room to find Konohamaru hiding under my blankets. I rolled my eyes & pulled the blanket off him. He was balled up with his knees pushed up his chest & he looked up at me then at the open gate.

"Close the doors! He might find me!" he whispered.

"Who'll find you?" I asked & right on cue, I felt another human presence. I turned to the gates & saw someone with all orange clothes & blonde hair running to my gates. Naruto.

"Konohamaru!" he yelled so loudly, the birds in the trees flew out in alarm. I blinked at him & turned to Konohamaru with narrowed eyes.

I crossed my arms in front of me. "What did you do _now_?" I asked. He laughed nervously & held out a piece of paper.

"It's a coupon for ramen & I took it from Naruto since he didn't want to treat me." he confessed. I exhaled sharply & Naruto barged in my room, panting like crazy.

"You- Konohamaru-my…haaaa! Coupon, give it back!" he wheezed. Nothing major has even happened yet but I already have a headache.

He & konohamaru wrestled for the coupon & Naruto eventually got it back. He held Konohamaru back with his hand on his face.

"Ha! I got it!" he yelled in victory. The edge of my mouth twitched & Konohamaru growled.

"Hey, treat me Naruto! Gaku, look at him!" Konohamaru yelled pointedly while struggling against Naruto's hold. I grit my teeth & sighed. I grabbed the back collar of Konohamaru's shirt & kicked Naruto in the stomach making him double over. I put my foot on his back, pushing him down.

I glared at Konohamaru then at Naruto.

"Hey, Gakuren, he's the one who started it. Give me a break will Ya?" Naruto yelled but I just pushed him down.

"You're the older one so you shouldn't be acting like a kid, idiot." I grumbled. "And will you stop running into my house so early in the morning?" I growled & dropped Konohamaru.

"Aww, c'mon. We actually agreed on being your alarm clock during the morning. You should thank Naruto since he said barging in your house was the best idea!" Konohamaru said with a huge grin. I glared at Naruto & he shuddered. I pushed his back even more forcing him to lie on his stomach.

"_My alarm clocks? Barge into my house? The best idea?"_ I growled each question sounding angrier than the last one.

Naruto laughed nervously. "That was just a joke Gakuren. Hahaha…" He said with a nervous smile. "Besides, you do need to have an alarm clock. It's already 11 Am." he said with a grin. I grabbed the collar of his jacket & he stopped me.

"Wait! I remember, Sakura told me to tell you we're going to the academy today to sign up for the exams." He said quickly. I let him go & he sighed with relief.

"I'll spare you today."

I rubbed my eyes & turned back to Konohamaru. "Don't you have school today? It's a Thursday." I said.

"Ah, our classes are in the afternoon." He simply said with a sheepish grin.

"Can we train today Gaku?" he exclaimed. I opened my mouth but closed it again.

"Right now?" I groaned & he nodded excitedly. I sighed.

"After lunch, we'll practice your aim." I said flatly & he groaned.

"Aim again? Aww…"

"You have to perfect this. I want to teach you more things but I can't teach you anything else but aim & focus." I said.

"Hey, I just said we have to go to the academy right?" Naruto pouted.

"aww. Does that mean we can't train?" Konohamaru asked with a pout. I chuckled & put my hand on his hair & ruffled it.

"Sorry konohamaru. Maybe when I'm not doing anything." I said apologetically. He nodded & regained his cheeriness.

"Oh well, I'll be with my friends then. Bye Gaku!" he exclaimed & ran out my house & back to the village.

"Jeez. The day hasn't even started & I'm already worn out." I mumbled.

"Well, we'll see you at the academy gates okay? We'll wait for you so hurry up!"Naruto yelled & ran after Konohamaru. I sighed & went in my bathroom.

I took a bath & changed into black pants, a white long sleeved, button down shirt paired with a black blazer. I pushed the sleeves up to my elbows & put on a gold chain necklace & white half-gloves. I decided to wear platform boots today. Once I was done changing, I went out my house & headed to the academy.

I was walking down the street & saw no one was around but I could hear some kind of commotion. I heard naruto's voice & Sakura's too.

"Let me go." I heard Konohamaru say. That can't be good. I walked faster & at the next corner, I saw three unfamiliar faces. One was a girl & the other two were boys.

The girl was a blonde & she had her hair tied up in all four directions. She had something big behind her back. Next to her was a younger boy who had red hair & a gourd on his back.

I don't know why, but I sensed there was something wrong with that human. And the next person I got angered by was the other boy who was wearing an all black loose body suit. He had purple make up on his face & he was holding up Konohamaru by the collar of his shirt. I saw all three of them came from the village of the Sand.

"Put him down!" Naruto yelled but the guy simply kicked him back. Naruto growled & got back up.

"What a loser." The guy in black chuckled.

"Who you calling a loser? At least I don't wear make up!" he yelled & Sakura started choking him with her arm to shut him up.

"You kids are going to sign up for the exam? What a joke." The girl said.

"Shut up Tamari. Now, I'll teach this kid what happens when he messes with me. I hate kids. They make me want to kill them." the guy in black said & balled up his fist.

Anger grew inside me & as I was about to charge him, a pebble flew out from nowhere & hit the guy's hand with such force, he let go of Konohamaru & Konohamaru ran to Sakura who had two other kids behind her.

"Hey! Who was that?" the guy in black yelled.

"I'm supposed to ask that." I looked up at the tree & saw Sasuke throwing a pebble up & down his hand.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sasuke asked.

"Just teaching these kids a lesson. You should learn to stay away from us in the exams go it?" the guy in black threatened.

I chuckled at his comment & walked into the scene. Konohamaru saw me & his eyes grew wide. I must've looked really mad cause' he looked at me with sudden terror in his eyes.

"Gaku…" he said loud enough for all to hear. They all turned to me & from the corner of my eye, I saw Naruto & Sakura look at me with the same expression but more worried.

They knew I protected Konohamaru with my life & if anyone tried to hurt him, they'll be in the hospital in no time.

"Teaching them a lesson? I think _I_ should be telling you that…" I growled & stopped next to Naruto. I don't normally get seriously mad like this but hearing what that guy said makes me want to punch something _really_ hard.

"And who would you be?" he asked me. I stared at him with a blank expression.

"I'm not obliged to tell you." I simply said & he growled.

"What?" he hissed & I got ready for a fight, balling up my fist. To be honest, I had the mad urge to throw a fireball at his feet. I could already feel my fist heating up.

"Kangkuro, that's enough." The red haired kid said. He said with a low & powerful voice.

Sasuke jumped down the tree & I stayed next to Naruto still glaring at the guy whose name must've been Kangkuro.

"Let's go. We're not here to fight so save it for the actual exams." The red haired kid said & with one last glare, the three of them turned away from us.

"Hey, you with the gourd." Sasuke called & the red haired kid turned to us.

"What's your name?" Sasuke asked.

The kid stared at him. "Gaara…of the Sand. I'm curious about your name too." He replied.

"Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke replied.

"And what about you?" Gaara asked turning to me. He looked like he hasn't slept for days & that's when I knew he was a strong opponent. I'm just not sure if he's human. He's emitting a different aura than other humans.

"Gakuren Akiyama." I said with tight eyes.

He nodded once. "I'll remember those names. And good bye for now." he said.

"Hey, you. Watch out for me got it?" Kangkuro said pointing to me.

I growled loudly & he stopped in his tracks.

"No Gakuren. Don't fight okay?" Sakura said pushing my chest back. I shut my eyes & took a deep breath. I smiled at Kangkuro but looked at him with dark eyes.

"No, you watch out for _me_. I can't control my temper any longer so I advise you to leave. _Right now."_ I growled.

I didn't know what I was saying but I was just so mad, I couldn't control my mouth. I gave him a better glare & saw Kangkuro & the girl named Tamari shudder while Gaara just stared at me.

They all turned away from us & left for the academy. Once they were gone, I felt my shoulders relax. I shut my eyes & crouched on the floor with my hands on my face. I exhaled sharply.

"Gakuren, are you okay?" Sakura asked while rubbing my back. I nodded once & stood up. I felt my heart racing & I feel like the exams are going to be fun.

"Sorry about that, just lost my cool. Happens from time to time." I said.

"You kinda worried us." Sasuke said with a small smile & I smiled back at him. I looked down at Konohamaru & patted his head.

"You okay?" I asked & he nodded.

"It's a good thing you guys were here." I told the three of them.

"Yeah." Sakura replied. I turned to Konohamaru's friends.

"Are you kids okay too?" I asked & they both nodded with a smile. I smiled back at them.

"All right, let's go. Kakashi's waiting for us at the academy." Sasuke said.

"You guys go home okay?" I told Konohamaru & he nodded.

"Bye guys! Good luck!" Konohamaru said & with that, he left with his friends.

Once the kids left Naruto immediately put his hand on my shoulder with great force making me jump. I turned to see him looking at me with a serious expression.

"What?" I asked.

"You looked like you were about to roast that guy." He said & I blinked.

"I could smell the smoke coming from your hand. Control yourself." He said. I stared at him & looked down at my hands. Yep, my gloves were ruined. I sighed & took them off.

"Don't worry. I barely get seriously angry & I know how to control myself. Relax." I said with a smile.

"Well, let's go then." I said & we headed to the academy in silence.


	8. Hello Bushy Brows

CHAPTER 8:

We got to the academy entrance & standing there, waiting for us was Kakashi sensei.

Once we approached him, he handed each of us one red card with our names & pictures.

"Those are your passes. Go in & sign up in room 301 in the third floor." He started.

"This exam has to be taken by the whole group. If one of you doesn't want to participate, spit it out _now_."

We all stared at him. I guess we all want to go.

"Okay then. Good Luck." Sensei said & the four of us went in the academy.

We were at the second floor already & there was some kind of commotion.

2 older Genin suddenly punched a guy wearing a green bodysuit. The girl behind him caught his back. The two Genin were blocking the room. All the people watching couldn't do anything but stay put. The odd thing was the room's number was 301. Isn't this only the second floor?

"Please, we have to get through here. Let us pass." The girl said & one of the older Genin laughed.

"Little girls like you aren't good enough to enter the exams. These exams are no joke kid. So just go back & play." He laughed. I rolled my eyes. How many fights do we have to go through today?

To my surprise, Sasuke stepped up & simply walked to the room. But the two bullies blocked him.

"Hey kid, you going to sign up for the exam?" one of them asked but Sasuke stayed silent.

"You are pathetic." Sasuke said slowly & I could sense the atmosphere get tense.

"What'd you say?" one of them growled.

"Your genjutsu won't work. This is room 201." Sasuke chuckled. I smiled at him, so he knew all along? Everyone started murmuring.

"Right Sakura?" he turned to Sakura who was staring at him with shock. She blinked & smiled.

"Of course, this is only the second floor." She smiled. The room number suddenly warped & changed into room 201.

The bullies growled at him. "Tch. Why you little-" One of them growled & raised his leg to kick. Sasuke was about to kick him & collide with the guys kick but in a blur, the guy in green appeared between them & gripped both their ankles.

I raised my brow. This human seems to be almost as fast as a griffin.

"Stop this. Let us settle this matter calmly." The guy in green said & both put their legs down.

"Tch. Whatever. Let's go." One of the bullies said & went in the room.

The three of us approached Sasuke.

"You knew too right Gakuren?" he asked me.

"Yeah, it was pretty obvious." I replied. Naruto looked confused as usual.

"Hey. You…" I heard someone call. We turned to the direction where the voice came from & saw another Genin with long black hair & white eyes.

Literally. His eyes were all white. Behind him was the girl & the guy in green.

"What's your name?" he asked Sasuke.

"I'm not obliged to say. And don't you introduce yourself before asking someone else's name?" Sasuke asked with a small smile.

"What?" the other guy hissed.

"Fine then, I'm Neji Hyuuga." He said.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke replied. It looks like there are lots of…weird people in this exam. Suddenly, the guy in green pushed Naruto aside making him fall on me. We both fell to the ground with Naruto lying on my stomach.

"Naruto, get off me." I hissed.

The guy in green went straight for sakura & smiled widely at her.

"And my name is Rock Lee!" he told Sakura who stood there frozen like a statue. We all stared at him.

"Your name is Sakura right? So, Sakura, will you please be my girlfriend?" he asked while doing a totally stupid pose. I froze. I don't think Sakura will say yes to a guy who has bowling ball hair & huge eyes under those bushy brows.

"Definitely…not." Sakura said dejectedly.

Rock lee literally lost his glow.

"Huh? But why?" he asked.

"Because you're weird…" Sakura hissed. I chuckled at the scene & threw Naruto off me. I stood up & dusted myself.

"And I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Believe it!" Naruto yelled with a thumbs up. But we all simply stared at him. I shook my head at him & hid my face in my hand.

"Embarrassing..." I mumbled.

Suddenly the girl behind the guy named Neji gasped when she saw me. I looked at her & her face reddened.

"Are you the new guy everyone's talking about?" she asked. I simply blinked at her since I didn't know how to answer to that.

"Umm…yes?" I said questioningly.

"So you're Gakuren Akiyama; the grandson of the third." Neji said with tight eyes.

"Uh, yeah..." I replied. Naruto suddenly put his arm over my neck, as if to choke me.

"Why you little squirt. You've gotten really popular haven't you?" he said with an annoyed tone. I scowled at him & grabbed his arm then threw him to the wall.

"_Little squirt_? You've got nerve to call me that, _squirt_." I growled. Naruto flinched while I stepped on his back, pushing him down on his face.

"Hey, Gakuren Akiyama!" I heard Lee yell. I turned to him & he looked at me with a serious expression.

"I challenge you to a match." He said seriously. I blinked at him.

"Sorry. I don't want to fight right now." I sighed.

"We gotta go. So see ya'." Sasuke said & we followed him to the third floor.

We reached the room & we held our breaths.

"Well, here we go. You ready guys?" Sasuke asked. He sounded serious but I could sense the excitement coming off from him.

"Yeah." We all replied & Sasuke opened the doors.

Once we got in, Sakura & Naruto gasped while my eyes grew wide. They all stared at us- ninja from every village. They all looked really tough & to be honest, I was overwhelmed.

"Sasuke!" we all turned to our right & Ino tackle-hugged Sasuke.

Sakura growled at her while ino stuck her tongue out to her. Poor Sasuke scowled at Ino but she ignored him.

"Hey guys." I heard someone else call. I turned & saw there were other squads here.

First I noticed this girl. She had short black hair & she had the same eyes as that Neji guy. They must be siblings.

"Hey Gakuren, you haven't met these people yet right?" Sakura asked me with bright eyes. I nodded at her & she pulled me to meet the others.

I learned that Ino was with the two guys named Choji who was too busy eating & Shikamaru who had a very bored look in his eyes.

The other girl with the white eyes was Hinata with her was Kiba who had a dog on his head named Akamaru. It looked like Akamaru & I will be good friends since Kiba kept translating what Akamaru says like-"huh? You like this guy? That's great!"

And the other guy named Shino. He was really quiet & hid his eyes behind really dark round glasses.

While we were conversing with each other, Naruto suddenly pointed his finger towards the mob of ninja in front of us. I froze & stood next to sakura.

"Hey all of you! My name is Naruto Uzumaki & I'll beat all of you down!" he laughed. I was about to choke him but Sakura beat me to it.

"Shut up you idiot! What is wrong with you? Sorry everybody, he's always like this so don't mind him!" Sakura laughed nervously. They all glared at us & I tensed. I stood next to Sasuke & mentally cursed Naruto for being so stupid.

"You idiot! Do you want everyone in this room to hate us?" Shikamaru hissed.

"Yeah, keep doing that & everyone will hate your skins." I heard a voice say. We all turned to see a guy in a white & purple outfit. His gray hair was held in a ponytail & he had round glasses. He approached us with a kind smile.

I guess he's not as menacing as the others.

"You should keep your voices down since everyone in here is really tense." He advised.

"Hear that Naruto? Keep your voice down." Sakura growled & started choking him again.

"I'm Kabuto Yakushi." He said with a kind smile.

"It's nice to meet you all. Is this your first time in the exams?" he asked.

"Yes. What about you?" Sakura asked.

"Ah, this is my third try." He laughed & I flinched. Third try?

"Well, third time's the charm right?" he laughed once more.

"So you know almost everyone here?" Ino asked from behind Sasuke.

"Well yes. I also know the new Genin." He said & that caught Sasuke's attention.

"Is there anyone you would like to know about?" he asked.

"Gaara…of the sand." Sasuke said & approached Kabuto.

"Sure." He said & took out cards. He laid one on the floor & after a poof, Gaara's info appeared. I raised my brow, Interesting.

"Gaara of the sand, basically all I know is this: he has done 1 S-ranked mission." Kabuto said with a tone of shock. My eyes grew wide.

One S-rank mission? S-rank missions are the hardest & only highly skilled ninja get to participate in them. That Gaara is definitely no human.

"Whoa. One S-rank?" Sakura mumbled.

"Anyone else?" kabuto asked taking Gaara's card back.

"Neji Hyuuga." I said & he took out another card & his info appeared.

"He's from the Hyuuga clan-one of the strongest clans in the Leaf Village. You guys have tough people to challenge don't you?" Kabuto said with a smile.

"Well, thanks." Sasuke said.

"No problem. Just be careful in this exam. I heard that this year will be very tough." Kabuto said.

Well, this will be fun.

And once again, Naruto's stupidity comes out. "Hey! I'll crush all of you got it! whoo!" Naruto yelled & everyone glared at us but more fiercely now. And in a second, I felt the air change then someone jumped out from the crowd & aimed for not Naruto but me.

Just in time, I was able to stop his punch & I gasped when I saw his face. He had a mask & there was some kind of fur on his back or whatever. He had the headband I've never seen before but it was a music note.

The Village of Music? Whatever.

The weirdest thing was the arm he used to punch me. His arm was made of steel & there were holes in it. All of a sudden, I felt a little nauseous & my head hurt.

I blinked lots of times & but my vision blurred. I let go of his hands & fell on my knees & felt horrible. I started shaking & my ears rang. After a second, I started to hurl. Good thing I haven't eaten yet.

"It'll do you good to shut your friend up." the guy said. I glared up at him & his eyes grew wide.

"Are you the Akiyama kid?" he asked me. I stood up, still wobbly & stared at his arm. That headband and my ears ringing once he tried to punch me, the holes in his arm- he used _sound_ to disorient me.

Never expected sound to be so threatening. I wiped my mouth & calmed myself.

I took a breath & shut my eyes. After a second, I recovered & the nausea disappeared.

"Gakuren…" Sakura mumbled.

"Yes. I'm Gakuren Akiyama." I said & he nodded.

"So you're who everyone's talking about. I hear you're a promising ninja. Well, sorry about that punch. Try to control your friend." He said & turned away from us, going back in the crowd.

I grit my teeth & slowly turned to Naruto. He looked up at me with a nervous expression.

I cracked my knuckles. "Hear that? Can you stop causing us trouble or I swear I will beat you up _again_. But this time, _I will not hold back_." I growled. And he immediately nodded his head. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again." He quickly said. I exhaled sharply & put my hand in my face.

"I need to calm down." I said & leaned my head against the wall.

"Umm, okay." sakura said. After a while we were all able to sign up & they told us the exams start tomorrow at 8 am.

We left to go home & train but while we were at a clear spot, I felt someone's presence around. It was familiar & I sniffed the air. I smiled at Sasuke.

"It's Rock Lee." I said. They all stared at me. "Look up." I said & as predicted, we saw Rock Lee up at the stairs looking down at us.

"Sasuke Uchiha. I challenge you." he said & jumped down in front of us. I felt a little hurt. I thought he wanted to challenge me too. Oh well.

"Sure." Sasuke replied.

Sakura looked shocked while Naruto growled. "Hey Sasuke, let me have a go with this bushy brows." He said.

"I apologize but it's Uchiha I want to fight." Lee said dejectedly at Naruto, Poor guy.

Naruto growled & since we were a distance away from lee, Naruto charged him head on & balled up his fist to punch lee.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled. Lee simply stepped up & pushed his hand away. Instead of hitting lee, Naruto wasn't able to stop & hit the hard wall.

"I finally get to test this out." Sasuke said & in a second, Sasuke had red eyes. I know those eyes- it was the Sharingan.

"You have the Sharingan?" I asked but it seemed he was too excited & jumped into the fight.

"Sasuke is from the Uchiha clan- the only clan that can use the Sharingan." Sakura said.

Oh, right. We both watched the fight from the side.

Sasuke jumped up & went up behind him. Once he tried to punch, Lee disappeared & reappeared behind Sasuke in a second. I could see the surprise in sasuke's face as he was kicked by lee up in the air then punched in the stomach.

"Sasuke!" Sakura yelled. Sasuke flew up & Lee appeared under him & I saw bandages flying around. It was lee's bandages that were flying.

"Okay! Now let's finish this!" Lee yelled & as he was about to attack, something grabbed lee's bandage making him fall on the ground. I winced at the sound of him falling. Sasuke flew through the air & sakura was able to catch him in time and they both fell to the ground. Sasuke looked spent. I stared at him & for once, I was speechless.

Incredible. I know Sasuke is very strong & tough to beat but that human was able to make Sasuke look like this?

I turned to Lee & froze. He was kneeling in front of a very big turtle.

"I'm sorry sir. I had to!" lee yelled.

He was talking to a turtle.

"You dummy! The Hidden Lotus is a forbidden jutsu & should only be used in a difficult situation yet you use it in a little fight like this?" the turtle yelled.

Yeah, the turtle talked back.

I blinked & from nowhere, someone else appeared.

"HELLLOOOO!" he yelled & from atop the turtle, appeared a man that looked almost exactly like Lee except he had smaller eyes. But they wore the same bodysuit & the same ridiculous hairstyle with the same bushy brows.

"It's me! The great Might Guy!" he yelled with a stupid pose. My mouth fell.

"Guy sensei?" I yelled in surprise. I knew him too but he totally hasn't changed since before. He looked at me & smiled widely then jumped next to me & hugged my shoulders.

"Aha! There he is! Long time no see Gakuren! You look dashing!" he yelled excitedly. This is so embarrassing.

"Yeah, hi sensei. Good to see you too." I replied with a tight smile.

"You know him Guy sensei?" Lee asked.

"What a weirdo." Naruto & Sakura mumbled. It was amazing Lee heard that since he turned & growled at us.

"He is not weird! He is the greatest sensei any Genin can train under!" Lee yelled with fire in his eyes.

"That's enough now lee." Guy sensei said & turned Lee to him. To my surprise, he punched Lee, making him fall down the ground.

"You great idiot! You were about to use the Hidden Lotus! I told you not to use that jutsu, it's forbidden!" he yelled at Lee who was now kneeling.

"I'm sorry sensei. Please punish me!" Lee yelled.

What is this guy? A masochist?

"Okay then! 200 laps around the academy! Get going now!" sensei yelled.

"200? Make it 500!" lee yelled.

"Shut up!" sensei yelled & punched him once more. Lee saluted him & started running.

"Well, good bye kids!" sensei shouted & he & the turtle disappeared.

We all stood there, still dumbfounded by the show that just occurred.

"You know a lot of people Gakuren." Naruto said & I sighed.

Yes, yes I do.

"He's a weirdo." Sakura said. And with that bit of wisdom, we left to go home & train.


	9. A reunion with my Demon Master

CHAPTER 9:

I got home, exhausted. I immediately went in the kitchen to make Vanilla tea. I filled up a pot with hot cream & mixed in the herbs with the milk.

While it heated, I went to the bathroom to change into normal clothes; Sweats & a sleeveless tee.

Once I took a bath & changed, I got out to the main room to see all three of them-Sakura, Sasuke & Naruto sitting in the main room sipping what was supposed to be _my_ tea. I jumped to see them & they all looked up at me.

"Hey Gakuren!" Naruto greeted with a wide smile.

"How'd you get in my house?" I yelled with surprise.

"You left the door in your room open." Sasuke said & drank more tea. My mouth fell. I guess I really was tired. I should've felt them come in but I was too absorbed in my bath.

"Ah, jeez. What are you guys doing here anyway?" I asked with my arms crossed.

"Nothing, we just wanted to hang here." Naruto said & turned on the TV. There goes my afternoon.

"Shouldn't you guys be training?" I asked them.

"Yeah, we'll train later. We need your tea." Sakura said with a smile. I stared at them, dumbfounded.

"You broke in my house for some _tea_?" I asked & they simply nodded. I sighed & scratched the back of my head.

"Whatever. I'll be in the backyard." I said & started training outside.

I practiced controlling earth since it was a little harder for me to master then I practiced my aim, after that I exercised. While I was petting my water dog, I realized someone was staring at my back. I turned to see the three of them staring at me with awe.

"What?" I blinked at them.

The three of them blushed & looked away from me. "Nothing." They said at the same time. I shrugged my shoulders & let the water dog explode. Literally explode.

Sakura & Naruto gasped at the falling drops of water while Sasuke simply looked up with an open mouth.

"Hey Gakuren, can you make people too?" Naruto asked. As a matter of fact, I couldn't.

"No. I've never tried it before." I simply said.

"Why don't you try it now?" Sasuke asked. I blinked at them & shrugged my shoulders. I visualized a human next to me & the figure of a person started to form.

"What about the face?" Sakura asked.

To be honest, I was nervous cause' if I make it too well, it might come to life & go out of control. I gave up & the water fell on the grass.

I sighed & scratched the back of my head. "nah. I can't, it's too risky." I said.

"What's too risky?" Naruto asked. He & Sakura sat down on the wooden boards & looked at me with delight.

"Well, if I draw it with a face & when it comes to life, it might go out of control & since I have no experience making humans out of the elements, it's truly dangerous if I do that." I explained.

My master back in Extail wasn't able to teach me how to make human clones out of elements so; I can't risk the safety of anyone in this world.

"Aww, that's too bad." Sakura said.

As she said that, someone knocked-no banged on the door really loudly.

"Gakuren, Gakuren!" I heard him call.

I ran to the doors & opened it to find Iruka sensei panting like crazy.

"What? What happened sensei?" I asked.

"It's… a griffin… we don't know who she is. We need your help back at the main gate." he said breathlessly.

I looked behind at the others. I ran to my room & took my favorite leather jacket. I'm ready to fight. I ran back to Iruka sensei & we left for the main gates.

"Sensei, leave everything to me." I said while we ran through the streets.

"Are you sure? She's quite strong." He replied.

"Don't worry. Once I get her down, I'll try to talk it out with her." I said & we jumped up the trees & headed to the main gates.

Once we got there, I froze.

She had pale white skin & she had her jet black hair in one loose braid with Amber colored stones in her hair. She wore a light pink blouse paired with knee length pants.

"No…way…" I shuddered. Then she suddenly grabbed one jounin by the collar of his jacket.

"WHERE'S THAT GAKUREN? THAT KID'S GOING TO GET IT FROM ME!" she yelled & Iruka sensei glanced at me.

"You know her?" he exclaimed. I nodded my head slowly.

"That's… my Master, Izumi sensei…" I said. I could literally feel all the blood in my face disappear.

Izumi sensei was really scary, when I trained with her, she won't let me sleep or eat for days until I was able to control the element of air-the hardest element to control. And when I said I would go after Moon, she locked me in my room until I said I'll never go after Moon. I left Extail when she was in her vacation home but I guess someone told her.

Bottom line is: I'm dead meat.

"Gakuren!" Sakura called & I froze. Izumi sensei slowly turned her head to me & glared daggers at me with her dark grey eyes. I shuddered & she let the jounin go then stomped to me.

Thanks so much Sakura.

"H-Hi, Master." I said nervously with my hands held up defensively while backing up & passed through my three teammates.

"Didn't I tell you never to go after Moon?" she yelled while stomping to me & I fell on the ground.

"Ye-Yes." I stuttered. She grabbed my shirt & shut my eyes. When I thought she was going to punch me, she sighed.

"Don't scare me like that." She said & shut her eyes. I opened my eyes & blinked at her, confused.

"Have you any idea how worried I was?" she mumbled under her breath.

"You were worried?" I asked. That's when she grabbed my shirt & threw me to the stone wall. Sasuke, Sakura & Naruto stared at master wide-eyed & when she looked at them they literally lost their color.

I fell on the ground & sighed.

It didn't hurt much but I was thinking- "_here we go again_."

She stomped over to me. "Of course I was! You're my student & I treat you as my son! Why didn't you tell me?" she growled with her low voice.

I stood up & dusted myself. "If I told you, you wouldn't have let me go." I said & she punched me again, making me fall to the ground.

"Of course I wouldn't you imbecile!" she yelled.

"Stop hitting me master!" I shouted back with my hand on my cheek.

"_What_? Are you talking back at your master?" she hissed while cracking her knuckles. I shuddered.

"Ah- I mean, ah forget it." I mumbled. She crossed her arms & sighed.

"Like pupil like teacher." Head her mumble but I didn't think I was supposed to hear that.

I got up & hugged her. She was so surprised she just froze.

"I'm sorry sensei. But moon's here in the human world… I can't leave now." I said in a low voice. I really must've have worried her since she kept on punching me.

She shook her head. "Fine, I'll let you do what you want. But…" she started & grabbed my wrist then to my surprise, threw me to the ground.

She threw me with so much force, the ground shook.

"That actually hurt sensei…" I wanted to say that but I felt so weak all I could get out my mouth was- "ow…"

Sensei threw her head back & laughed her evil laugh.

"Ahaha! You've grown soft Gakuren! You won't be able to defeat Moon like that." She said with a wide grin. I got up & I felt like all the air escaped from my lungs.

I got up, wobbly. "That's why there's something called training." I said weakly.

Yeah. Master is that strong. I bet she's stronger than moon if she didn't hold back on me all the time.

She dusted her hands together & I stood up _again_.

"Well, well, Izumi!" I turned to see gramps with a big smile.

"Ah! Sarutobi! How's it been?" master exclaimed & they gave each other a big hug.

Yeah, they know each other. How? I do not want to explain. I'll just say they've known each other since before I was born.

"What are you doing here?" gramps asked.

"She wants to beat me half to death." I answered & master scowled at me.

"Ahaha! Well, Izumi, how long will you be staying?" gramps asked.

"I'll stay here for only two days since my husband is waiting back at home. I can't leave him alone." She said happily. My mouth fell.

Two days? It's like my mom saying she'll be coming with me to a party.

"Well, you can stay at one of the hotels here. I have to go & do paper work so, good bye." Gramps said & simply walked back to the office. Today is really weird.

"Okay, I'll be leaving too Gakuren. We'll train tomorrow." She said.

"But, tomorrow's the chuunin exam." I called & immediately pursed my lips. Uh-oh. I should have never said that.

"Oh, really? Then we'll start training now!" she shouted. "Meet me at the training grounds in 3 minutes& we'll begin." She said & left.

"If you don't come, I'll find you and beat you up." she threatened with a smile.

"Yes, master." I laughed nervously & she continued on to the training grounds. Once she was gone, I slapped the sides of my face & made some _very_ unintelligible sounds.

"Was that your master?" I turned & the three of them were really pale-Even Sasuke.

I nodded my head. "Wow. She's exactly like you." Naruto said.

I glared at him. I grabbed his wrist & threw him down the ground. "Say that again." I said angrily.

"Nope. I'm good." He replied with a weak voice. I exhaled deeply & scratched the back of my head.

"Wow. And I thought _you_ were really strong." Sakura said with awe.

"Believe me, that's not the least of her strength. She always holds back on me. If she gives her full power, I'm sure she'll be a million times stronger than me." I said while dusting myself.

They all stared at me & I blinked at them. "Well, I'll be going to the training grounds. You guys wanna come?" I asked them & they all nodded with serious faces.

"Yup, yup! I wanna see you get beat up!" Naruto yelled with glittering eyes. I cracked my knuckles.

"Hey Sasuke, Sakura, wanna see _Naruto_ get beat up?" I hissed at the two of them.

"Sure." They both said with smiles & Naruto glared at them.

After beating up Naruto, we all left for the training grounds. To be honest, I'm really pumped to be able to fight master again.


	10. A battle with Master

CHAPTER 9:

I got home, exhausted. I immediately went in the kitchen to make Vanilla tea. I filled up a pot with hot cream & mixed in the herbs with the milk.

While it heated, I went to the bathroom to change into normal clothes; Sweats & a sleeveless tee.

Once I took a bath & changed, I got out to the main room to see all three of them-Sakura, Sasuke & Naruto sitting in the main room sipping what was supposed to be _my_ tea. I jumped to see them & they all looked up at me.

"Hey Gakuren!" Naruto greeted with a wide smile.

"How'd you get in my house?" I yelled with surprise.

"You left the door in your room open." Sasuke said & drank more tea. My mouth fell. I guess I really was tired. I should've felt them come in but I was too absorbed in my bath.

"Ah, jeez. What are you guys doing here anyway?" I asked with my arms crossed.

"Nothing, we just wanted to hang here." Naruto said & turned on the TV. There goes my afternoon.

"Shouldn't you guys be training?" I asked them.

"Yeah, we'll train later. We need your tea." Sakura said with a smile. I stared at them, dumbfounded.

"You broke in my house for some _tea_?" I asked & they simply nodded. I sighed & scratched the back of my head.

"Whatever. I'll be in the backyard." I said & started training outside.

I practiced controlling earth since it was a little harder for me to master then I practiced my aim, after that I exercised. While I was petting my water dog, I realized someone was staring at my back. I turned to see the three of them staring at me with awe.

"What?" I blinked at them.

The three of them blushed & looked away from me. "Nothing." They said at the same time. I shrugged my shoulders & let the water dog explode. Literally explode.

Sakura & Naruto gasped at the falling drops of water while Sasuke simply looked up with an open mouth.

"Hey Gakuren, can you make people too?" Naruto asked. As a matter of fact, I couldn't.

"No. I've never tried it before." I simply said.

"Why don't you try it now?" Sasuke asked. I blinked at them & shrugged my shoulders. I visualized a human next to me & the figure of a person started to form.

"What about the face?" Sakura asked.

To be honest, I was nervous cause' if I make it too well, it might come to life & go out of control. I gave up & the water fell on the grass.

I sighed & scratched the back of my head. "nah. I can't, it's too risky." I said.

"What's too risky?" Naruto asked. He & Sakura sat down on the wooden boards & looked at me with delight.

"Well, if I draw it with a face & when it comes to life, it might go out of control & since I have no experience making humans out of the elements, it's truly dangerous if I do that." I explained.

My master back in Extail wasn't able to teach me how to make human clones out of elements so; I can't risk the safety of anyone in this world.

"Aww, that's too bad." Sakura said.

As she said that, someone knocked-no banged on the door really loudly.

"Gakuren, Gakuren!" I heard him call.

I ran to the doors & opened it to find Iruka sensei panting like crazy.

"What? What happened sensei?" I asked.

"It's… a griffin… we don't know who she is. We need your help back at the main gate." he said breathlessly.

I looked behind at the others. I ran to my room & took my favorite leather jacket. I'm ready to fight. I ran back to Iruka sensei & we left for the main gates.

"Sensei, leave everything to me." I said while we ran through the streets.

"Are you sure? She's quite strong." He replied.

"Don't worry. Once I get her down, I'll try to talk it out with her." I said & we jumped up the trees & headed to the main gates.

Once we got there, I froze.

She had pale white skin & she had her jet black hair in one loose braid with Amber colored stones in her hair. She wore a light pink blouse paired with knee length pants.

"No…way…" I shuddered. Then she suddenly grabbed one jounin by the collar of his jacket.

"WHERE'S THAT GAKUREN? THAT KID'S GOING TO GET IT FROM ME!" she yelled & Iruka sensei glanced at me.

"You know her?" he exclaimed. I nodded my head slowly.

"That's… my Master, Izumi sensei…" I said. I could literally feel all the blood in my face disappear.

Izumi sensei was really scary, when I trained with her, she won't let me sleep or eat for days until I was able to control the element of air-the hardest element to control. And when I said I would go after Moon, she locked me in my room until I said I'll never go after Moon. I left Extail when she was in her vacation home but I guess someone told her.

Bottom line is: I'm dead meat.

"Gakuren!" Sakura called & I froze. Izumi sensei slowly turned her head to me & glared daggers at me with her dark grey eyes. I shuddered & she let the jounin go then stomped to me.

Thanks so much Sakura.

"H-Hi, Master." I said nervously with my hands held up defensively while backing up & passed through my three teammates.

"Didn't I tell you never to go after Moon?" she yelled while stomping to me & I fell on the ground.

"Ye-Yes." I stuttered. She grabbed my shirt & shut my eyes. When I thought she was going to punch me, she sighed.

"Don't scare me like that." She said & shut her eyes. I opened my eyes & blinked at her, confused.

"Have you any idea how worried I was?" she mumbled under her breath.

"You were worried?" I asked. That's when she grabbed my shirt & threw me to the stone wall. Sasuke, Sakura & Naruto stared at master wide-eyed & when she looked at them they literally lost their color.

I fell on the ground & sighed.

It didn't hurt much but I was thinking- "_here we go again_."

She stomped over to me. "Of course I was! You're my student & I treat you as my son! Why didn't you tell me?" she growled with her low voice.

I stood up & dusted myself. "If I told you, you wouldn't have let me go." I said & she punched me again, making me fall to the ground.

"Of course I wouldn't you imbecile!" she yelled.

"Stop hitting me master!" I shouted back with my hand on my cheek.

"_What_? Are you talking back at your master?" she hissed while cracking her knuckles. I shuddered.

"Ah- I mean, ah forget it." I mumbled. She crossed her arms & sighed.

"Like pupil like teacher." Head her mumble but I didn't think I was supposed to hear that.

I got up & hugged her. She was so surprised she just froze.

"I'm sorry sensei. But moon's here in the human world… I can't leave now." I said in a low voice. I really must've have worried her since she kept on punching me.

She shook her head. "Fine, I'll let you do what you want. But…" she started & grabbed my wrist then to my surprise, threw me to the ground.

She threw me with so much force, the ground shook.

"That actually hurt sensei…" I wanted to say that but I felt so weak all I could get out my mouth was- "ow…"

Sensei threw her head back & laughed her evil laugh.

"Ahaha! You've grown soft Gakuren! You won't be able to defeat Moon like that." She said with a wide grin. I got up & I felt like all the air escaped from my lungs.

I got up, wobbly. "That's why there's something called training." I said weakly.

Yeah. Master is that strong. I bet she's stronger than moon if she didn't hold back on me all the time.

She dusted her hands together & I stood up _again_.

"Well, well, Izumi!" I turned to see gramps with a big smile.

"Ah! Sarutobi! How's it been?" master exclaimed & they gave each other a big hug.

Yeah, they know each other. How? I do not want to explain. I'll just say they've known each other since before I was born.

"What are you doing here?" gramps asked.

"She wants to beat me half to death." I answered & master scowled at me.

"Ahaha! Well, Izumi, how long will you be staying?" gramps asked.

"I'll stay here for only two days since my husband is waiting back at home. I can't leave him alone." She said happily. My mouth fell.

Two days? It's like my mom saying she'll be coming with me to a party.

"Well, you can stay at one of the hotels here. I have to go & do paper work so, good bye." Gramps said & simply walked back to the office. Today is really weird.

"Okay, I'll be leaving too Gakuren. We'll train tomorrow." She said.

"But, tomorrow's the chuunin exam." I called & immediately pursed my lips. Uh-oh. I should have never said that.

"Oh, really? Then we'll start training now!" she shouted. "Meet me at the training grounds in 3 minutes& we'll begin." She said & left.

"If you don't come, I'll find you and beat you up." she threatened with a smile.

"Yes, master." I laughed nervously & she continued on to the training grounds. Once she was gone, I slapped the sides of my face & made some _very_ unintelligible sounds.

"Was that your master?" I turned & the three of them were really pale-Even Sasuke.

I nodded my head. "Wow. She's exactly like you." Naruto said.

I glared at him. I grabbed his wrist & threw him down the ground. "Say that again." I said angrily.

"Nope. I'm good." He replied with a weak voice. I exhaled deeply & scratched the back of my head.

"Wow. And I thought _you_ were really strong." Sakura said with awe.

"Believe me, that's not the least of her strength. She always holds back on me. If she gives her full power, I'm sure she'll be a million times stronger than me." I said while dusting myself.

They all stared at me & I blinked at them. "Well, I'll be going to the training grounds. You guys wanna come?" I asked them & they all nodded with serious faces.

"Yup, yup! I wanna see you get beat up!" Naruto yelled with glittering eyes. I cracked my knuckles.

"Hey Sasuke, Sakura, wanna see _Naruto_ get beat up?" I hissed at the two of them.

"Sure." They both said with smiles & Naruto glared at them.

After beating up Naruto, we all left for the training grounds. To be honest, I'm really pumped to be able to fight master again.


	11. A Study Date with Grandpa

CHAPTER 11:

I headed home after that huge battle with master. While I was walking down the shortcut leading home, someone suddenly pulled my jacket over my head so I couldn't see anything.

"Hey!" I shouted & felt the person's hand in front of me. I grabbed that hand & threw whoever it was onto the ground. I pulled off my jacket & froze when I saw it was Naruto. I rolled my eyes & put my face in my hand.

"What are you doing Naruto?" I asked him.

"I just wanted to surprise you…" he said weakly. I sighed & turned to see Sakura & Sasuke right behind me.

I jumped a bit on how close they were. "Why are you guys following me? You should be training now you know?" I asked.

"We _are_ going to train. We're only following you since the training grounds is this way." Sakura said pointing ahead.

I blinked at them & pulled Naruto up. "Don't do that unless you want me to throw you in the air." I told him & patted his shoulder.

I walked past him & headed home. "Hey! You're not training?" Sakura called.

"I'll train at home!" I called back without turning to them & waved good bye.

I got to my forest & started running around the lake as much as I can. i don't want to end up failing this test.

While I was running I suddenly realized this exam could be a written exam. I stopped all too suddenly & fell on my face.

"Whoa!" I cried & pulled myself back up.

"Crud, I haven't read anything about the ninja world… I'm dead." I mumbled to myself.

I got up & jumped over the lake & ran in my house.

I started to rummage through the books in my shelf but only found one thick book about the ninja world. I groaned & pushed my finger to my temples. You might have thought I've been reading ninja books but the books I've been reading were either books about nature or manga books.

While I was thinking of going to the public library, someone suddenly knocked on my door.

I opened it to see gramps standing there with a smile. He wore his usual robes & hat.

"Hello Gakuren. So, have you been training well?" he asked & went in my house then sat in the main room. I closed the door & sat opposite of him.

"Uh, yeah." I said hiding my nervousness.

"You don't look so confident? What happened? Did Izumi beat you up?" he chuckled & I waved my hand dismissively.

"Not that. Well, it's um… Is this exam a written exam?" I asked gramps & put my hands together as if to beg him.

"I haven't read anything about the ninja world like the strategies, blah,blah…" I trailed off & to my surprise gramps laughed.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I'll teach you all the things you need to know." He said & patted my head.

My eyes grew bright with hope. So I still have hope on passing!

"But, Izumi left today." he said.

"Ah, yeah." I replied & told him that master finally had a baby & our battle.

"So, you destroyed those training grounds?" gramps asked with a smile.

Oops. I'm dead. He was talking to me with a smile but I think he wants to choke me right now.

"Ahaha…sorry?" I said with a nervous smile but thank goodness, he waved that situation away & we started to study.

For the next minutes, gramps taught me things about missions, great ninjas even math. I made some tea & realized it was already 6 pm. Gramps kept on teaching me things non-stop & made me solve equations & so on. It wasn't really hard for me. Back in Extail I was the top student in school so learning things like this is relatively easy for me.

After hours of lessons, I finally learned everything. My face fell on the table & I sighed.

"I think my head's going to explode gramps. There are way too many things in here." I mumbled making gramps laugh. He patted my back & chuckled.

"You worry too much Gakuren. If this was a written exam, I'm sure you'll get everything right." he said with a smile. I smiled back at him & glanced up at the clock. It was already 10:15.

Gramps stood up & headed to the gates. I got up as well & leaned on the doorway.

"Well, I'll be leaving now. It was a good thing I happened to pass by. Good luck tomorrow Gakuren. Oh, by the way, you will have to fix the training grounds after the exams." He said & fixed his hat then in a flash, he disappeared. I heard his feet land softly on the grass. I chuckled.

"Thanks gramps." I mumbled & closed the door.

I suddenly realized he said I have to fix the training grounds. My mouth fell & I gripped my hair then grit my teeth. Darn it!

I took a long bath & quickly jumped into bed. I'm so tired. Today was a very eventful day & tomorrow's the chuunin exam.

I sighed & closed my eyes.

I tossed & turned but I still couldn't sleep. I growled & quickly sat up. I glanced at the clock & groaned. It's already 1 in the morning.

It must be because of all the things I've learned earlier. I slapped my face & got up to make vanilla tea. I'm sure that would help me sleep.

After drinking a whole cup full of it, I finally fell asleep.

I woke up & saw it was already 7:50. My eyes grew wide & I jumped out of bed.

I took a short bath & changed into loose black pants, a black sleeveless shirt & a sporty purple jacket. I hurriedly put on my platform boots & gloves then took my I.D. for the exam.

With my Headband tied around my neck, I rushed out my house & jumped over the high wall & sped off to the academy.

Thanks to my griffin speed, I got to the academy in just three minutes. At the entrance of the academy were my teammates.

They all looked really mad though.

I appeared in front of them making them jump.

"Ahaha, sorry I'm late. I drank too much vanilla tea last night." I apologized.

Suddenly Naruto grabbed my collar & started yelling inaudible things.

Stared at him & slapped his face. "Speak properly Naruto." I hissed & he rubbed his cheek.

"It's a good thing it's not yet time! So hurry up or we'll be late!" he shouted excitedly & ran in the academy.


	12. A Flying Telephone

CHAPTER 12:

We were in front of the room we wet in before-room 301.

We all stood together & I took a deep breath. Suddenly, I felt someone was watching us. I turned to see Kakashi sensei.

"Sensei." I said & they turned to sensei who was leaning on the wall.

"You guys ready?" he asked. We looked at each other & nodded once.

"Yes!" we all shouted. Sensei seemed to smile under his mask & held out his hand to the door.

"Well, go on then." He said.

Sasuke pushed open the doors & like last time, all the ninja were there counting the other rookie leaf Genin squads.

I was behind the three of them when I saw all the other ninja stare at me menacingly. I looked away from them & turned to the nicer looking ninja.

"Hey guys." Kiba greeted.

"So, all of us are taking this Exam huh? I wonder how far we'll get…Eh Sasuke?" Kiba asked while giving Sasuke a sly smile.

I wasn't listening to the conversation. I was too busy staring at the ground & reading the atmosphere around us. It was so tense in here; I didn't like it at all.

"Gakuren,"

I looked up to see all of them staring at me.

"Are you okay? You look tense." Naruto asked. I smiled & put my hands in my pockets.

"Nah, I'm fine. Just thinking about how much fun the exams will be." I chuckled.

"Well, you're confident. But we won't lose to you guys got it?" Kiba shouted. Once they looked away from me, I focused on the mob of ninja again. I looked at all of them & saw some of them shudder. I tried to look for the guy who attacked me before. When I saw he was here, I looked to find Kabuto next. I was so absorbed in looking at the competition that I didn't hear Naruto calling me.

"HEY! GAKUREN!" He shouted really loudly into my ear. I growled & grabbed his jacket.

"Wahh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he immediately said. I rolled my eyes at him & let him go.

"What?" I asked, annoyed.

"You better not fail this exam!" he said pointing at me. I blinked at him & he had a smile on his face but his eyes were serious.

"Cause' I want to fight you!" he said. I raised my brow at him & although I haven't seen him fight before, I felt he had some hidden power in him. Right when I was staring at him, I suddenly felt a huge pressure crush me.

It wasn't physically but I could feel such crushing power coming from Naruto. It was so strong, I felt like I was looking at another griffin.

My stomach clenched like I was bracing for a hit & I approached Naruto. He looked at me alarmed & I involuntarily put my hand on his head.

He looked at me with confusion. I didn't know why but I suddenly felt that Naruto wasn't a normal human. He had the same kind of aura as that Gaara guy.

I blinked & smiled at him. "Sure. Now way I'd lose to you, dummy." I said with a grin that showed my teeth.

"Whoa." I heard someone say. I looked up & saw Ino and Sakura looking at me with amazement & admiration. I blinked & cleared my throat.

All of a sudden, smoke filled the room.

"Alright you little runts! Let's begin!" a man yelled. I waved the smoke in front of my face away & saw a tall man in front of me. He had a black cloak & he was wearing the leaf headband. He had two scars on his face & behind him was a group of other leaf ninja.

He looked down at me & grinned. "Well, well, if it isn't the third's grandson." He said with a low voice.

He glanced up at the entire mob of ninja & I saw them shudder.

"I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the chuunin exam's first test." He said & I backed away from him.

"Alright! First of all-there will be no fighting without the examiner's permission, even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated." He said & his smile disappeared.

"Those idiots that disobey me will fail immediately. Clear?" he asked with a powerful voice.

I stood next to Sakura & listened to the instructor.

"We will now start the first test. Instead of your current seating arrangements, you will pick one paper with a number written on it & sit in the seat assigned to you." he said while holding up a piece of paper with a number written on it.

"After that, we will hand out the exams." He said & all the ninja took out papers.

It was a good thing gramps helped me study.

"Huh? A PAPER TEST?" Naruto screamed.

After a while we all sat & I got the number 51. I saw that Naruto was given number 53 & I could see the panic in his face when they handed out the papers.

Next to him was that girl named Hinata. This is bad luck for you Naruto.

Hinata talked to him & after her I called Naruto.

"Naruto," I whispered & he turned to me & his eyes went bright.

"Gakuren! You're here." He whispered happily.

"shh. Do your best idiot. You better not lose since you & I will be fighting." I reminded him & looked back ahead at our instructor who was scanning the crowd.

"Do not turn over your tests & listen to what I have to say." The instructor said & started writing something on the board with his chalk.

"I'll write the rules to the test while explaining it. But questions will not be allowed." he said.

What? Questions_ aren't_ allowed? What kind of rule is that? I put my hand under my chin & listened for the rules. But I'm sure those rules will be really ridiculous.

"First rule, you will all start off with 10 points. The test is made up of only 10 questions & each one is equivalent to one point… but this is a test that uses a subtraction system. If you answer all the questions correctly, you keep your 10 points but say you missed three questions, you lose three points & will have 7."

So basically, all wrong means no points at all.

Wait. If the test only had 10 questions, this test must be extremely hard. Suddenly thinking of that made me lose my confidence. I put both my hands under my chin & took a deep breath. Calm yourself.

The next thing the proctor said almost made me faint.

"The second rule is… this is a team test. Whether you pass or not will be determined by the combined score of your teammates." He said.

My mouth fell & I glanced at Naruto who looked like he was about to faint too. I'm sure Sasuke & Sakura will be fine but Naruto?

We're all doomed.

"So, each team will compete to see how many points they can hold from the initial team total of 40." The instructor continued.

"Wait a second!" I turned to see Sakura stand up with a raised hand. What are you doing sakura?

"I don't understand this initial points thing but why is it a team test?" she shouted.

I turned back to the instructor with the same question in mind.

"Shut up! You don't have the right to question me. There's a reason for this so be quiet & listen." He told Sakura but she remained composed.

"Now, the most important rule…" he trailed off.

I swallowed & stared at him. I'm _dying_ to hear the next stupid rule.

"The third & most important rule is that during the exam… anyone caught cheating or doing sneaky activities by the testing officers will have 2 points subtracted for each offense." He said with a wry smile.

"So, there will be some who will lose all their points & be asked to leave." the instructor said.

I glanced at the officers at my far left that had clipboards in their hands. One of them saw me & raised his brow with a smile on his face.

I looked away nonchalantly & thought of Naruto & how he's dead meat.

I glanced at him & saw he was freaking out.

Thinking of every rule & how many questions there are, it looks like they _want_ us to cheat. They're daring us to cheat & not get caught. This is tough.

I've never cheated once in my life but I'm more scared for Naruto.

"Realize that whoever cheats destroys themselves." The proctor suddenly said.

"And the final rule." He continued.

What? Another rule? Goodness.

"Those that lose all their initial points during the test & those who don't answer any questions correctly… will be failed along with their two or three teammates." He said.

My eyes grew wide & I couldn't breathe.

Yeah, I have to think of something fast to help Naruto "I sense that three people want to kill me." I heard Naruto tell himself with a scared face.

"You bet." I growled quietly.

I tried to think of ways to help Naruto. If I was just placed right next to him, this will be much easier.

Ah! I got it! I could use bugs to send messages to Naruto. I barely use bugs since they creep me out but this situation calls for it.

I'll use a mosquito. I can communicate with my animals with telepathy so I'll just convey the answers to it then send it to Naruto along with the answers.

It'll be like sending a flying tape recorder to him.

"The exam will last one hour. Begin!" the proctor said & I tuned my test paper & studied all the questions one by one. Once I read all the questions, I almost turned the wooden table into shreds with my other hand.

All the questions were easy for me but studying it better & putting myself into Naruto's shoes, this is hell for him.

Naruto, just please get at least one point. That's all I ask for _1 point_!

I started filling up the answers but carefully studied them humans tend to put little traps in tests like these.

In 5 minutes, I was already done with question 9. So basically I was done.

Since the last question says:

"_The last question will be revealed 45 minutes after the test begins. Listen to the examiner closely before answering."_

What's with that? Oh well. I kept on rechecking my answers & thought of some way to give Naruto the answers.

I thought of mosquitoes or flies to come in the room but in very, very small numbers, say…10.

One of the flies landed on my right shoulder & one of them landed on naruto's. Since there were officers on both sides of the room, I made the fly on Naruto invisible.

Think it's impossible? Well, not for me.

I started to talk to Naruto with telepathy.

"_Naruto, don't freak out & be calm. It's me Gakuren." _I thought & from the corner of my eye, I saw Naruto jump a bit.

"_I must be going mad." _Naruto whispered in his head.

"_Dope, you're not going mad. This is one of my abilities so just keep your cool & listen to me."_ I hissed.

"_Huh? So this really is you Gakuren?"_ he cried mentally.

"_Yeah. Please be calm. Don't get too excited or you'll get the both of us kicked out the room. Don't scream okay? Just shut up & listen to the answers. I'll be relaying them one by one got it?_" I said.

"_No._" he suddenly said. I almost screamed my head off.

"_What? Come on! I know you're going through hell right now! And to be honest, I _don't_ want to fail this exam!"_ I hissed.

"_if I cheat, I won't be a proud shinobi_!" he hissed back. I froze.

A proud shinobi huh? I was silent for a moment & blinked.

"_Fine then, But get at least one question right. Wait for the last question."_ I replied.

"_Yeah, don't worry about me. I won't lose to you or Sasuke!" _he said. I mentally smiled.

"_All right. Well, it's okay though. There is always next year right?" _I taunted. If there's one thing Naruto doesn't like, it's failing at something.

"_Don't say that. We won't fail got it?"_ he cried making me mentally chuckle.

"_Got it. I'm cutting off my connection okay? good luck Naruto_." I said & they fly on my shoulder & naruto's disappeared.

"Umm… I'd like to just know one thing." I heard one ninja say from behind me. I didn't want to look back & be misunderstood as cheating.

"How many teams will pass this test?" he asked.

That's right. We should be ranked on our team scores. Maybe only those who have high scores will pass.

I stared at the proctor waiting for his answer. To my surprise, he chuckled.

"It's not like knowing will help you… or do you want to be disqualified?" he asked with a serious face.

I shuddered a bit & looked back at my paper.

"Sorry…" the ninja said with a low voice & it was quiet again.

I looked back at my paper & studied it thinking about the rules of this test.

I sighed & started rewriting my answers.

It's already been 40 minutes & so far half the people in the room have been disqualified. Good thing out team hasn't been caught doing anything stupid. I couldn't relax one bit since I kept on monitoring everyone's movements including the officers. There were only five people left in my row including me Naruto & Hinata. I kept my eyes on my paper pretending to go over them but I was looking at Naruto who still looked like he was having a hard time.

Suddenly a kunai flew past Naruto & landed in the test paper of the guy behind him.

I breathed in, thankful it wasn't Naruto. There were many other ninja who couldn't accept losing & started to cause trouble.

While I was staring at the wooden table, dust started to form around me. At first I thought it was dust but I was wrong. It was sand. It tried to go into my eyes but I simply held it back with wind.

"Ok." The proctor suddenly said making me look up with surprise. This must be the last question. Naruto, if you're depending on this last question, listen carefully.

"We will now start with the last question." The proctor said.

I mentally growled at him, all this suspense is killing me!

"Before we get to it, I'd like to go over the added rules for this question." He said.

Suddenly, someone went in the door & I saw it was the guy named Kangkuro. I glared at him but he didn't see me.

"Nice timing… was your doll playing beneficial for you?" the proctor asked.

What doll? I studied the officer next to kangkuro but saw it wasn't an actual officer. It was a doll. Impressive.

"Just sit down. I'll now explain… these are the rules of desperation." He said.

"Rules of desperation?" I mumbled to myself.

"First, for this question, you must decide whether you will take it or not." He said with a serious face.

"Choose? What happens if we choose not to?" I saw the blonde girl shout. I remembered her name was Tamari.

So, that group from the sand have made it this far?

"You fail along with your teammates."

"What does that mean?" one ninja asked.

"Then we'll decide to take the question then!" one ninja shouted.

"And now… the other rule." The proctor started.

"If you take it and answer incorrectly, that person will lose the right to take the chuunin exam ever again!" he announced.

I gripped the table with too much force & I ended up having a handful of wood in my hands.

No way. _Never_ take the exam again? This is just too much.

But, one part of me is urging myself to take the question. It might be really hard or really easy. But… you'll never know once you try.

I swallowed & looked at Naruto. Wonder what he thinks.

"What kind of stupid rule is that? There are guys here who have taken the exam before!" Kiba yelled. And again, the proctor chuckled.

"Well, too bad for you. _I'm_ the proctor this year." he said.

"But, those who aren't confident can choose not to take it…and try again next year." he continued.

"What?" I mumbled under my breath.

"Now, let's begin the 10th question." He started. I held my breath.

"Those that don't want to take it, raise your hand. Once your number is confirmed, leave."

So, basically, if one raises his hand, we all fail but if you take the questions & answer it incorrectly, that person will stay a Genin _forever_?

I won't raise my hand.

I'm sure I can answer this question. And, if I don't get it right…I'll be the only one to go down. It's better to go down yourself than to take someone else with you.

I leaned back on my chair waiting for the question & glanced at Naruto. I have no idea what he's thinking & I don't know him that well. But I'm sure, he's not the kind that will bring his teammates down.

The ninja next to Naruto stood up & gave up. Along with his teammates, they went out the room.

At the corner of my eye, I stared at Naruto. He's always saying he'll be hokage one day & he'll surpass everyone & be a respected ninja. I also wondered if he'll raise his hand.

If he does… it's fine with me. He wants to be a great ninja & he won't be one by staying a Genin. As the seconds ticked by, I waited for Naruto to raise his hand but he wouldn't.

My brows knit. What are you doing? Forget about us. Ever since I felt that pressure come from Naruto, I actually believed he could become a powerful person.

If he takes it & fails, he'll never be hokage.

"What are you waiting for?" I thought to myself.

And as I was about to look away from him, he shakily raised his hand. I stared at him. At first I was staring at him with wide eyes. But my gaze grew soft.

I smiled a bit but the next thing he was going to say startled me so much, I was speechless.

"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME! I WON'T RUN!" he yelled & hit the table with his hand.

"I'LL TAKE IT! EVEN IF I STAY A GENIN, I'LL JUST WILL MYSLEF TO BECOME HOKAGE! I DON'T CARE & I'M NOT AFRAID!" he continued.

I stared at him with a partially open mouth. And eventually it grew into a wide smile.

That's right. Will-power is the best thing that humans possess. This kid has guts.

I crossed my arms in front of my chest & stared at the proctor. He saw me smiling & actually smiled back.

For once, I wasn't embarrassed about being Naruto's teammate.

"I'll ask you once again. This is your last chance to quit." The proctor said.

"I follow my unbending words. That's my ninja way." Naruto replied.

The proctor glanced at me & saw my smile.

"Well, grandson of the third, what about _you_?" he asked me. Everyone looked at me with surprise.

Naruto looked at me & I looked back at him. I sighed & smiled widely, showing my teeth.

I don't know why but I suddenly laughed. "No way am I going to lose to that kid!" I chuckled & gave Naruto a sly smile. He blinked at me & smiled back.

I looked back at the proctor & he suddenly smiled.

"Good decision. Now, to everyone still remaining…" he started.

Here it comes. I lost my smile & balled up my fists.

"I congratulate you on passing the test!" the proctor announced with a wide smile. Once he said that, I almost screamed my head off.


	13. I hate Written Exams

CHAPTER 13:

Everyone was silent & for a moment there, I wanted to jump out the window.

"I congratulate all 78 that remain, you pass the first test!" he said.

"Wait, what about the 10th question?" Sakura asked.

"There's no such thing or you could say the two questions were the 10th question." The proctor smiled. My mouth fell & I banged my forehead on the wooden table.

"Waaah! GAKUREN!" Naruto yelled in alarm.

"I hate this…" I mumbled to myself & finally I could breathe again. I looked up at the proctor with the edge of my mouth twitching.

"Then what were the 9 questions for?" Tamari asked.

"As you can see, these questions are really hard. Questions I'm sure only a handful of you can answer. So, to pass, you have to cheat & get the answers. It was to see if you had skills to gather information without getting caught. On missions, you will have to gather secret information & escape alive. In this case, you have to cheat & _not_ be caught cheating." The proctor explained.

"As cheating targets, we had two or so chuunins who knew all the answers & mixed them into the crowd." The proctor said & in front of me one ninja turned to us with a sly smile. My mouth fell & I took a breath through my teeth.

"You've got to be kidding me. You were a chuunin?" I shouted pointedly at him & he smiled at me.

"Hehe. Yup." He replied. I rolled my eyes & pouted with my arms crossed.

I can't believe the answers were literally right in front of me. I could've just sent my bugs to _him_ & copy the answers instead of thinking so much. To be honest, some of the questions were really hard & I just wrote random things gramps said.

I took a deep breath & looked at Naruto. Once he saw my face, he snickered at me.

I must've looked really worn out. This suspense is too much for me.

"Ha-ha! You dummy I saw through it from the start!" Naruto yelled proudly.

"Yeah right." I snorted & he glared at me while I glared back. Since I was better at that, he backed away with his tail between his legs.

"Of course, those that cheat poorly, fail…" the proctor said while taking off his cap. Once he took it off, I gasped to see his head covered in well… I don't want to gross you out.

I'll just say his head didn't look pretty.

"Because…sometimes, information is more important than life. And in missions, people risk their lives to get a hold of It." he continued.

He could've told us that without showing his scars. I think I won't be able to eat later.

"I want you to remember this; important information in your hands can be a powerful weapon for you and your comrades. So, we had you gather information by cheating." He explained.

"I don't understand the 10th question though." Tamari said.

"But…question 10 is the true purpose of this test." The proctor replied.

He must mean team work?

"The 10th question-the take it or not decision… obviously these were painful choices. Those who choose not to take it fail with their teammates. Those who choose to take it…lose the chance to ever take the test again.

"How about these choices-say you become chuunin & your mission is to steal a document but you don't know how many ninja there are or what their abilities are. And there could be traps around you too. Now, do you accept or not?

"Because you don't want to die or you don't want your comrades hurt, can you avoid the dangerous mission? The answer is No." he said.

"No matter what the danger, there are missions you can't avoid. The ability to be courageous & survive any hardships… these are abilities needed to become a chuunin captain.

"Those who walk away from their chance _shouldn't_ be a chuunin!" he said.

"But…to you people who chose to take it & answer the tough question correctly, you will be able to survive any trouble in the future. You've passed the first test & I wish you guys luck." He said with a smile.

I took a deep breath & my eyes grew wide when I felt another presence outside. I got up & readied myself. The proctor glanced at the window & suddenly, someone burst through the window. He barreled through the window & I froze when I saw who it was.

"Alright you maggots! This is no time to be celebrating!"

It turns out he was a she. She wore a long trench coat & had her black spiky hair was tied up behind her head.

She had a leaf headband so I sat back down but I felt so familiar with her.

"I am the examiner for the second test! Mitarashi Anko!" she yelled. Once she said that, my mouth fell. No way.

Her again!

"Now let's go! Follow me!" she yelled. My mouth twitched. I can't believe I'm seeing her again. How do I know her?

When I was a kid, she used to babysit me when Dad & gramps left me at home. I really didn't like having her as my babysitter since she was so noisy & really clingy.

She scanned the crowd & snorted.

"78? Ibiki, you left 26 teams?" she yelled at our present proctor.

"There are lots of outstanding ones this time." he replied.

"Bah. I'll just cut them in half in the second test." She said. What does she mean cut us in half? These humans are just too…weird.

She was studying us & when she caught sight of me she blinked. I scowled at her & her mouth fell. She stomped over to me & stopped in front of my table. She slammed her hand in front of me but I wasn't a bit fazed.

"Well, well, well, what have we got here? So it's true that _little Gaku's _come back." she said & patted my head while she smiled.

My mouth twitched & since she was the next proctor, I couldn't insult her like I usually would.

"Hi, Anko don't call me little Gaku." I said through my teeth making her laugh loudly.

"Oh well, if _you're_ here, I'm sure this year's exam will be really fun." She said & walked back next to Ibiki.

"Alright, I'll explain everything once we've changed places." She announced & we all left for the next venue.


	14. The Beautiful Forest of Death

CHAPTER 14:

All 78 of us arrived at a clearing & in front of us was a forest of huge trees the forest was barred by a metal fence & a sign said-Keep out, dangerous.

Sakura stood next to me while Sasuke & Naruto stood behind us.

"Whoa. This is creepy...Wahh! Gakuren!" she yelled but I ignored her.

This forest is Lovely! It reminds me of our forests back in Extail!

"It's not creepy! It's really nice here! These trees are huge! I'm impressed!" I said quickly while looking at the trees with glittering eyes.

"You're weird Gakuren…" Naruto mumbled.

"Shut up! It's not every day I get to see such giant trees. It would be nice to take a nap here." I said thoughtfully.

"HUH?" the three of them yelled at the same time.

"A nap?" Sakura cried.

Anko stood in front of all of us.

"He he…you'll soon find out that this forest isn't as nice as it seems Gakuren. You'll find out soon why it's called the forest of death." She said with a menacing smile.

I backed away from her & stayed next to Sasuke.

Naruto snorted & mimicked what Anko said.

"You think that scares me? That's nothing! I'm not afraid!" he yelled.

"Ha. You're spirited." Anko said & suddenly she threw a kunai past Naruto & it landed between other ninja. In a second, she was right behind Naruto holding his face with her hands. I backed away from Anko & saw she wounded Naruto on his left cheek.

His wound started to bleed & Anko wiped it off with her hand.

"Kids like you are easily killed. Ha-ha…" she laughed happily.

What a Sadist, I can't believe she used to be my babysitter.

Then from behind Anko, another ninja appeared.

"Here's your Kunai." He said & as I said before…there are lots of weird ninja in this exam.

He was from the grass village & he had long, depressing black hair. He fixed his hat & he gave Anko her kunai back using his incredibly long snake tongue. To be honest, I was confused whether this guy's actually a guy or a girl.

This exam is…ugh…

"Why thank you grass ninja." Anko said & took the kunai from him.

"But you know…don't sneak up on me, unless you want to die." Anko said with a smile.

"No, I just get excited when I see red blood. Plus, you cut my precious hair, I couldn't help It." the ninja said. Why are there so many sadists here?

"I'm sorry." Anko said & the grass ninja walked away.

"Jeez, Anko…" I mumbled & I felt the air change. I whirled & caught Anko's kunai before it could cut my face.

"What did you say?" she growled.

"I said you haven't changed on bit." I chuckled. She stared at me with a glare & snickered.

"Ha-ha. Yeah. I see you've grown fast. I'm impressed." She said.

"Don't try to attack me again Anko." I simply said & she stared at me then looked back at the other ninja.

"Looks like we have lots of blood thirsty ones in this test. Ha-ha, this should be fun." Anko chuckled.

"You're the most blood thirsty one." I thought silently

"Now, before the second test starts, there's something I have to pass out." She said & held out a thick wad of paper.

"You must sign these agreements forms. Some of you will die in this test & if I don't have you sign these, it'll be all my responsibility." She chuckled.

"I'll be explaining the second test then you can sign it afterwards. And then each team will check in at that booth behind Me." she pointed to a booth with two ninja sitting behind the wooden desk & then she handed Naruto the papers to pass around I took one & Anko walked farther away.

"Now, I'll explain the second test. Simply put… you will attempt the ultimate the survival. First I'll explain the area in which it will take place. Around this practice arena, there are 45 locked gates. Forest, river & a tower in the center. From the gates to the tower is about 10 km.

"During the survival in here you will be asked to complete a certain task. Using your many weapons & jutsu, you will compete in a no rules…scroll battle." She said holding out two scrolls- a white one & a black one.

Survival huh? This'll be fun…

"You will fight over these two scrolls; the heaven & earth scroll." She said. The white was obviously the one for heaven & black for the earth scroll.

"26 teams…half, 13 will get the heaven scroll & the other 13 will get the earth scroll. To pass this test you must make it to the tower with both scrolls." Anko continued.

"So, 13 teams will lose their scrolls… half the teams will definitely fail." Sakura said.

"But, there's a time limit. This test will last 120 hours. Exactly 5 days." Anko added.

Great, a time limit.

"FIVE DAYS? WHAT ABOUT DINNER?" Choji yelled. I stared at him, totally thrown back that he was worried about what to eat.

"You're on your own. The forest is filled with food. Just watch out for man-eating beasts, poisonous plants & insects. And 13 teams passing is not likely. As the days go on, the distance to the goal will become farther & the time to rest will become shorter. Plus, the area is crawling with enemies. You won't get much sleep.

"So, not only will some fail by losing the scrolls but some will die from the harshness of the course. Now, I'll talk about what will disqualify you. First, those that don't make it to the tower with both scrolls within the time limit. Second, those who lose a teammate or those who have a teammate killed.

"As a rule, there will be no quitting in the middle. You will be in the forest for 5 days & one more rule…you must not look into the scrolls until you make it to the tower." Anko finished.

"What happens if you do?" Naruto asked & Anko chuckled.

"That would be a surprise for those who open the scrolls." She replied with a smile.

"A chuunin will be asked to handle the classified information. This is to test your trustworthiness. That is it for the explanations. Exchange the 3 forms for your scroll, and then choose a gate to get ready for the start." Anko finished.

The four of us took a look at each other's form but I froze.

"But Anko…we have four members." I said & she walked up to me. She glanced at our forms & snickered.

"Oh, right. I forgot. You Gakuren, will participate…alone." She said & put her arm over my shoulder.

I froze & blinked while the three of them gasped.

"What? But that isn't fair!" Sakura cried. It was fine if I take this test alone but Sakura's right. It's still unfair.

"Why? You may be the proctor Anko but I'm sure gramps wouldn't agree to this." I said with a serious face.

"What? The hokage himself told me to make you go alone." She smiled & I slapped her hand off.

"What are you saying? I can't possibly fight for those scrolls alone!" I hissed.

"Ah, you have a different kind of scroll." She said.

"The hokage told me to make a scroll especially for you. No one's touched it but me & one team will have it with them but," she said & shook her finger.

"You won't know what team would have it. I'll explain everything to that team & once you fill out your form, the test will start." She said & walked away.

I stared at her back & growled.

"That's so unfair. Can't you do anything about this? I mean the hokage's your grandfather. This is way too dangerous." Sakura said with a worried expression.

I chuckled at her. "It's fine. Have you forgotten I'm_ different_?" I snickered. The three of them exchanged glances.

"Well, okay then. But still, be careful." Sakura reminded.

"Yeah, I will." I smiled.

"It's time to exchange for the scrolls." One of the ninjas from the booth called & I saw Anko go in the booth before other ninja would go in.

This test is really something. It brings back my memories of hiding in forests before I arrived in the leaf village.

How nostalgic! I could die here!

I leaned under a tree & started to sign my form. Once I was done, Anko approached me.

"You won't need a scroll. You just have to get yours back & get to the tower within 5 days. Got it?" she smiled with a thumbs up.

"Yeah." I replied & once she took my form, she told me to pick a gate. I saw Naruto, Sakura & Sasuke pick the 13th gate so I chose the 12th gate. Beyond it was a dark path with huge trees at either side.

I didn't feel that scared since I've been to many forests like this.

"Alright! Follow your instructors & we will start in 30 minutes!" Anko yelled.

An instructor motioned his finger for me to follow him & we arrived at the 12th gate. He unlocked it & the lock fell on the ground.

"Are you ready for this kid?" the instructor asked.

"Yeah." I replied with a straight face.

"Piece of advice," he said. I stared at him waiting for what he has to say.

"Don't die." He chuckled. I blinked & chuckled as well.

"Right." I replied. Like I haven't heard _that_ before.

"All right!" Anko yelled. The instructor left me & I fixed my headband. I should start by finding food.

"The second test of the chuunin exams, now…begins!" she yelled & the gate flew open. Through the trees, I saw one team dash in & head straight. Why are they in such a hurry? They'll waste their energy like that.

I simply walked in & looked around, studying my surroundings.

"First things first; find food." I muttered to myself & took a deep breath but stopped my breath.

"Ugh..." I said & covered my mouth & nostrils from the awful stench of blood.

"Yep, Forest of death indeed." I mumbled & walked through the dark path.


	15. Sand is Scary

CHAPTER 15:

While I walked through the dark path, I listened for enemies or as Anko said-giant man eating beasts. I found berries & thanks to my knowledge of nature & all its poisonous friends, I managed to stay away from all the poisonous berries. While I scanned for enemies, I heard my stomach growl. I put my hand on my stomach & looked around. I then saw movement up on the trees. I took out my kunai & sniffed the air. It wasn't a human scent so I guess it's an animal of some sort.

I threw the kunai at the branches & a pheasant flew out.

"Now." I mumbled & summoned a bow & arrows that had their heads made of stone. I pulled the arrow & released it once I got a good aim & the bird fell in front of my feet. I picked it up & pulled the arrow off it.

I snapped my fingers & summoned my bag. I ran to under the huge roots of the tree that was big enough to hide 3 people in & put the bird next to me. I checked my bag & saw I had weapons- my bow & arrows, small knives, shuriken & some strings & wires.

I looked around & focused on sensing enemies. None. So far, I haven't met any other enemies yet.

I put the bird in front of me & found some small rocks. I put it in a circle around the bird & snapped my fingers, after a second, the bird was being cooked in fire. If you think I could attract people because of my smoke, my master taught me a way to make a fire without sending signals. For griffins that can use the element of fire, it's relatively easy.

We just have to find shiny stones & put it in a circle then visualize a clean fire- a fire that doesn't give off smoke. But this fire isn't ordinary. It's not yellow or orange but it's blue. Don't know why but… oh well.

After a while the bird was cooked & its feathers have fallen off. I stopped the fire & took out my knife. I cut its side & found it was really juicy & cooked well. I sucked in a breath of the cooked bird & sighed. It smelled exquisite.

"This is gonna be good." I mumbled excitedly. I took the bird out from the circle & put it on a large leaf. I cut it into large pieces & started eating the wings & thighs. When I was content, I cut the rest of it & saw I had a small paper bag to put it in. I pulled it out from my bag & stuffed my leftovers then I scattered the rocks throwing them everywhere. Once I erased my scent with the soil & mud, I put my bag over my shoulder & started to look for my scroll.

While I was jumping from tree to tree, I thought of what Anko said. Anko that woman, she tends to give hints when she talks. She said that she made the scroll herself & no one has touched it but her…

That's it! If no one has touched it but her, then I can trace the scent on the scroll & boom! I can go to the tower.

But the downside is, she gave it to another group so, whoever that group is, they have their scent all over it now.

I stopped under the canopy of the trees & shut my eyes. I took a deep breath & felt my muscles tense. At these times, my senses are the most powerful. I could sense enemies a mile away & even smell them before _they_ can find _me_.

I looked for Anko's faint scent & from a far distance, I found her scent. It wasn't strong, just a very faint smell. I immediately ran through the forest & as I ran farther, I could smell the scent even more. After a minute, I saw a clearing & found the three sand ninja from before. I stopped to hide in a safe distance & from under me, I saw Kiba's squad.

I looked back at the three sand ninja & found that they were about to fight with three other ninja from the rain village. I sniffed the air & judging from the direction, the ninja from the Sand have the scroll I need. Before I would get the scroll I decided to watch what would happen in this fight.

I have no idea why but my eyes drifted towards that guy…Gaara. Once I saw his eyes, I shuddered. He looked really…scary.

All of a sudden, the rain ninja attacked them & as Tamari & kangkuro were about to stop the ninja, Sand appeared under the three ninjas feet. They looked at the ground confused that they couldn't move.

I realized the sand was coming from that gourd on Gaara's back. I had no idea how he did it but no normal human can control elements. Much less, sand.

The sand crawled up the three rain ninja's legs & after a second, 2 of them were in sand cocoons. Gaara slowly held out his hand & closed his fist.

The next thing that happened made me freeze & shake like a little puppy.

The two ninja in the cocoons exploded, blood splattering all over the place.

I jumped a bit when some blood flew on my face. I quickly wiped it off & slowly melted down the branch. I looked at my hands & saw I was shaking. All this blood reminded me of that horrid day. I shut my eyes & shuddered when I heard the last ninja beg for his life.

"NO! PLEASE! HERE! TAKE THE SCROLL! PLEASE LET ME LIVE!" he screamed & put down of his weapon which was an umbrella. Gaara approached the man & the ninja fell on his back, crawling away from Gaara. I glanced at Gaara's eyes & I saw his eyes have changed. He had bloodshot eyes & he was smiling evilly.

"_This guy…he really wants to kill for absolutely no reason."_ I thought to myself & froze.

Kill for no reason. Just like Moon. I grit my teeth & thought of telling Kiba & his team to go first. I summoned a fly & it landed on Kiba's shoulder.

I started talking to him in my mind.

"_Kiba, it's me Gakuren. Leave now. Hurry or he'll kill all of you_." I thought while looking down at the three of them.

Kiba started looking around looking for me.

"_This isn't a trap or whatever. I'm telling you to leave right now or you'll die! Keep quiet & go back_." I thought.

"_How is he doing this_?" Kiba thought to himself.

"_It's a special jutsu my father taught me. Look, relax. I'm not after your scroll, now go!"_ I hissed in my mind.

But, he won't listen. I almost banged my head on the tree. All of a sudden, Shino saw the fly & I made it fly to his finger.

"It's Gakuren. He's talking to us through this bug." Shino said.

Yes! Good job Shino!

The two of them looked at the fly & Kiba shuddered. I widened my range of telepathy to all three of them.

"_Listen guys, leave now! This Gaara kid, he's going to kill you for no reason. Now go!"_ I yelled in my head with my fist balled up.

I froze when I heard that blood curdling scream. I looked up at the scene of Gaara & the ninja & saw that the ninja was already in a cocoon of sand. Gaara had the umbrella resting on his shoulder & he slowly raised his open hand then closed it.

And once again, blood flew everywhere. I gasped & started shaking again.

I decided staying hidden & warning Kiba's team will be useless so I climbed at the side of the tree where they won't see me & landed on the grass covered ground.

I saw a small stone & picked it up. I aimed for Kiba's neck & threw it. He jumped & turned to me. Once he saw me he froze.

I motioned them to hurry up & move.

"_Come on!"_ I mouthed. I'll just get the scroll from them later.

"Well, what do we have here?" I heard Kangkuro say. I froze & looked up at them. Kangkuro was looking right at me & so were Gaara and Tamari. I blinked & took a deep breath.

Well, can't leave now.

"Tell your friends to come out will you?" Kangkuro said.

"Kangkuro…" Tamari said while pulling Kangkuro's sleeve. They both glanced at Gaara & shuddered. I looked at him too & froze. He was staring at the corpse of the rain ninja & he was shaking.

"More… I want more…." I heard him mumble.

More? Once I realized what he meant, I ran to Kiba's team & stood in front of them.

"You guys, go now." I said keeping my eyes on Gaara.

"What? What about you?" Kiba asked. I turned to them & smiled.

"Don't worry about me. I've handled worse people than him." I said.

They all stared at me & before they could turn & run, something seemed to caress my right arm. I looked at my arm to see sand flew past it & wrecked my jacket's sleeve.

I looked back at Gaara & he was staring at me with expressionless eyes. I glowered at him the best I can & he blinked. He raised his hand & Kiba & the others gasped while I held my breath.

"Gaara, stop it! That's enough! We have the scroll now so let's go!" Tamari screamed.

When I thought Gaara was going to cocoon me, a cork appeared in his hand & he plugged the gourd.

"Fine." He said & turned to the direction of the tower.

Ah! The scroll!

"Wait!" I called & they all turned to me.

"Where's the scroll Anko gave you? I know you have it." I said & held out my hand.

"Give it to me. I don't want anything else." I said with an expressionless face.

Kangkuro rummaged through his pockets then held out a purple scroll. I sniffed the air & was positive it was this scroll Anko was talking about.

"Give it. As much as I can, I'd love to avoid a fight." I said.

Kangkuro held out the scroll & looked at Tamari then Tamari whispered something to him. He exhaled sharply & shook his head then threw the scroll to me. It flew in the air & I caught it.

I nodded thanks to Kangkuro & looked back at Gaara when suddenly, sand started to crawl up my legs. I gasped & with my griffin strength, I jumped up the air but it followed me. I was about to summon water when I remembered what Iruka sensei told me about the hand signs.

I made a fake hand sign & from nowhere, water appeared rushing at the sand with jet speed. I raised my hands & the water circled me in a vortex. They all stared at me & I glared at Gaara.

"Get out of here!" I yelled while turning to Kiba & his teammates. They seemed to have understood & ran into the dark forest. I turned back to Gaara & saw he looked calmer now.

"I don't want to fight so let me leave." I said with an expressionless face. Kangkuro & Tamari stared at me, horrified.

"Gaara stop." Kangkuro said while shaking Gaara. I let my vortex of water disperse & in a second, the vortex disappeared & I was standing there, watching Gaara.

"Shut up." Gaara replied with an expressionless face.

"That's enough Gaara! There are times when you have to listen to your older brother!" Kangkuro growled. Brother?

"Too bad I don't see you as my brother." Gaara hissed making Kangkuro walk back in surprise.

"Gaara, please don't do this. For our sake. For me, your sister." Tamari laughed nervously. Gaara stared at them then looked at me. He raised his hand to me & when I thought he was going to attack, he balled up his fist & sand fell from his hands. Once he opened his palm, I saw a cork & he plugged the gourd once more.

"Whatever. Let's go." Gaara said & he turned away from me. Tamari & Kangkuro stared at me wide-eyed & left as well.

I stood there, replaying what just happened in my mind. I decided to take the long way around to avoid that human & turned back to the direction I came from. I blinked & looked up at the sky. It's already early noon.

It's already the 3rd day since the second test started & I still have my scroll. I decided to look for Naruto & the others and see if they're still okay.

While I was walking around the forest, I heard a very loud BOOM! that was so loud, it shook the ground.

"Woah!" I mumbled & looked straight ahead and saw a huge wave of dust & debris fly toward me. I covered my eyes while the wind tried to blow me away.

"What the heck?" I said through my teeth. Once the wind was gone, I sniffed the air & smelled a familiar scent. Sakura.

Sakura's scent came from the same direction where that blast came from.

My eyes widened & I raced to see if they were okay.

I stopped at the edge of a clearing & saw Sasuke with Sakura sitting on the ground right behind him. Her face was bloody & her hair! Her hair was cut short.

I grit my teeth & anger grew in me. it must be horrible for a girl with long hair to have her hair cut down.

I looked to my left & saw the same guy who attacked me before the exams started. But what really shook me was Sasuke.

He looked different. There were black marks that looked like wisps of smoke all over his body & he was using the Sharingan. He was stepping on one of the sound ninja who had spiky black hair.

Sasuke pulled his two arms back & I saw there were holes in his hands.

"You look very proud of these arms don't you?" Sasuke chuckled. I gasped.

What's wrong with him? The sound ninja winced & gasped.

"NO! STOP! DO-GUAAH!" he yelled when Sasuke yanked his arms back. There was so much force, I actually heard his bones dislocate. The ninja fell to the ground & Sasuke turned to the ninja who attacked me before.

"You're the only one left? I hope you make this more interesting for me." Sasuke said with a smile.

What the heck? This isn't Sasuke. I sensed the presence of other people & looked up the trees to see Neji & the girl from the academy then form the bushes were Ino & her team. I looked back at Sasuke & saw Naruto lying on the ground, passed out.

Sasuke approached the last ninja & before he could charge, Sakura ran to him & hugged him from behind.

"NO! STOP!" she yelled. I held my breath & got ready to pull Sakura away if Sasuke goes berserk.

"Please…stop." She begged & it worked.

The marks on Sasuke started to slowly disappear. Once the marks were gone, Sasuke fell to the ground.

"Sasuke!" sakura cried & caught him before he fell.

Good job sakura.

"Guys!" I shouted & ran to them. They both turned to me & Sakura smiled widely.

"Gakuren!" she shouted but stayed next to Sasuke.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked them & kneeled down to them. I glanced at Sakura's hair & gave a sad look.

"Your hair…" I said while pointing at her now very short hair. She touched her hair & smiled.

"Ah, don't worry. It's okay. We're all fine." she said.

"Where were you?" Sasuke asked.

I held out my scroll with a smile. "Out looking for this." I chuckled.


	16. Reuniting With the Nicer Ninja

CHAPTER 16:

"You are strong." I heard the sound ninja say. I turned to him & he held out an earth scroll.

"Sasuke, we can't defeat you at this time…Here's a gift to you…please let us leave." he said & let the earth scroll roll to us. I took it from the ground & gave it to Sakura.

He took his friend & put his arm over his shoulder.

"This may seem convenient but we have something to find out now. But I will promise you this…if there is another situation where we will meet in this exam, we will neither run nor hide." He said & turned to leave.

I looked at Sasuke & he was panting heavily.

"Wait!" Sakura yelled making the ninja turn back to us.

"Who is this Orochimaru & what did he do to Sasuke? Why him?!" Sakura yelled.

I tensed & found my hands shaking and my heart started beating like a drum. For a name I've heard for the first time…why am I acting like this?

"I don't know. We were merely ordered to kill Sasuke." He replied. My eyes grew wide.

"What? Kill him?" I asked him & he shuddered. He grabbed a girl who was from the sound village too & disappeared.

I blinked & turned back to Sasuke. What in the world happened here?

"Hey! Are you guys alright?! This sucks but Ino, take care of Lee!" Shikimaru yelled while jumping out the bushes.

I got up & walked to Shikimaru & choji who were looking down at Naruto who was smiling goofily. I rolled my eyes at him.

"What should we do with him? Kick him awake?" Choji asked.

"That sounds nice but let me handle it." I said & right on cue, Naruto suddenly sat up & screamed.

"GYAAA!" he yelled & I punched his head.

"Oww..." he said & looked at Sakura & Sasuke.

He suddenly lied on his stomach looking around frantically like a little lizard.

"Everyone hide! Get down now! Where did that guy go?!" he yelled & I sighed then walked back to Sakura & Sasuke. It will be useless to waste my time on this idiot.

"The idiot's awake." I told Sakura & Sasuke.

"Oh! Sakura!" Naruto yelled & ran to us.

"Sakura, your hair!" he shouted & I sat down next to Sakura.

"Oh, this? Just trying to change my image! An image change." She smiled. I smiled back at her.

"Well, it kinda suits you." I said & patted her head.

"Wha! Gakuren? When'd you get here?! What are you doing here?! We don't have that scroll!" he started yelling. I rolled my eyes at him.

"I already have it idiot." I said.

"Ohh..." he said.

"By the way, why are _you guys_ here?" Naruto asked Shikimaru.

"Man, it will be useless to explain things to you." Shikimaru replied.

"Everyone…came to save us." Sakura said.

Suddenly, I saw Lee being shaken by the girl back in the academy. Lee opened his eyes & blinked when he saw her.

"Oh, Tenten, what are you doing here?" he asked the girl. so, obviously her name was Tenten.

They started talking so I looked away & let them have privacy.

"Ooh, ooh, bushy brows!" Naruto yelled & jumped in front of Lee.

"HOW DARE YOU BE RUDE TO LEE!" Sakura yelled & punched Naruto in the face making him fly through the air & land on the ground, flinching.

I blinked & gave Sakura a round of applause.

"Thank you Gakuren." She said with a smile & I gave her a wide grin.

I ignored their conversation & glanced up at the canopy & sighed. I felt a little caged in here so I looked for the sun. I kept on walking around absentmindedly & once I saw one area up in the branches being lit by the sun, I jumped up the tree & leaned on the branch. Once the ray of sun hit me, I relaxed & all the horrible things I've seen were erased from my mind. I closed my eyes, relaxed by the warmth & melted down the thick branch.

"Huh? Gakuren?! GAKUREN!" Naruto yelled loudly. I ignored him since I didn't sense any danger.

"HEEY!" Sakura yelled but I was enjoying the sun too much to open my eyes.

They kept on calling me so, annoyed; I opened my eyes to see Naruto inches from my face with that stupid grin on his face.

"HI GAKUREN!" he yelled so loudly.

"Wahh!" I shouted since I was too surprised making me lose my balance & fell off the tree & into the bushes.

I fell on the soft bushes & sighed. Naruto jumped down the tree & landed next to me.

"AHAHAHAH! You dummy! You didn't see it coming!" he shouted. I got up & dusted myself then gave Naruto a punch that made him fly back to Sakura & Sasuke.

"Yeah. But I saw _that_ coming." I said & walked back to them.

"What is it?" I asked them & yawned. It must be 3 pm already since that was the usual time I would get sleepy & take a nap.

"Did you get into trouble? Your jacket's wrecked." Sasuke pointed. I glanced at my jacket & sighed.

"Yeah. That Gaara guy, he's real trouble." I said & explained everything that I saw. Once I was done, I took a breath & tried to wave that memory away.

"Whoa. Are Kiba & the others okay?" Ino asked. I shrugged my shoulders & sighed.

"Don't know. But they must've since those sand ninja went the opposite direction of where Kiba's team went." I said & looked out the dark forest.

"Well, it's time for us to go. See you guys." Ino said & their team left.

"Us too." Tenten said & their team left too, leaving the four of us together.

"Well, guess this is good bye again." I said with a sad smile. Naruto raised his brows at me.

"What are you saying? Why not come with us already?" Naruto asked.

"Didn't you remember what Anko said? I have to participate _alone."_ I reminded them. I really want to go with them but I can't.

"What are you saying? You can totally come with us! What she meant was we can't _help you get the scroll_!" Sakura said & she started dragging me along.

"Wrong." Sasuke suddenly said while wiping his sweat.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"The proctor said Gakuren will have to do this alone. So, I'm sorry Gakuren, but you can't come with us, unless you want to be disqualified." Sasuke said apologetically.

I pouted & sighed.

"Oh, well. We'll just see each other at the tower right? Oh, here." I said & took out the bird I left for later. Sakura caught it & peeked inside.

"Whoa! What? why are you giving it to us?" Sakura asked & Naruto peeked in too & gasped.

"Whoa…it…it looks so good…" he said while swallowing his saliva.

"You can have it. There are tons of birds around here. And, whatever happened here, I'm sure you need some energy. There's enough for all of you so…" I said with an expressionless face.

"Well, th-thanks Gakuren." Sakura said.

"Sure. Well…I'll see you guys at the tower. I'll be going now. See Ya." I said & jumped up into the high branches of the trees.

"Bye Gakuren!" Sakura yelled while waving goodbye.


	17. Weird, Snake guy

CHAPTER 17:

While I was jumping from tree to tree, I kept on thinking about that name…Orochimaru. Whenever I hear it, I start to feel angry & frightened.

I wasn't looking at where I was going & I ended up bumping into a tree.

"Oww…" I mumbled under my breath. Before I could fall, I hugged the tree & summoned a gust of wind to help me down.

I softly landed on the ground & sighed. It's already the 4th day & I still can't get those images out my head; that Gaara kid's bloodthirstiness, the marks on Sasuke & that name… I quickly shook my head & decided it's time to get serious.

I looked up at the canopies & heard my stomach growl. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday & it's already late in the afternoon. I thought of looking for fruits this time. It'll be impossible if there weren't any fruits around here.

I walked around the whole forest & managed to get 4 fresh apples & lots…no, loads of berries. I washed them before I ate one apple & put the other fruits in my bag.

I approached a high tree & sprinted up the trunk until I reached the very top. I held on to the thick trunk & saw the tower. It was only a little farther now so I chuckled while munching on the sweet apple.

"Finally." I sighed & jumped from tree to tree. It felt so great to have the wind play with my hair but the only bad thing about this was that the air was starting to smell like blood-foul & rusty.

While I was absorbed at watching the clouds, I realized I was going in circles. I stopped on one of the branches & realized I was in a genjutsu. I sighed & finished my apple then jumped off the branch, landing softly on the ground.

I stood there in the middle, waiting for whoever it is to attack. When they didn't come out, I sighed & crossed my arms.

"Listen, I know you're here but sorry to disappoint you, I don't have a heaven or earth scroll." I shouted & I heard a menacing laugh.

It was coming from my left so I glanced at the huge tree & up in the branches was a stranger. I studied him & saw he had long black hair & he wore the same thing as the grass ninja with the freakish tongue. But, this time, his eyes were different. They were black slits & purple tear lines were on the corner of his eyes. He had pale skin & he was giving off a malicious aura.

"Who are you? You're not taking these exams are you?" I asked loudly, fully turning to him. He chuckled evilly & jumped down in front of me.

"Hmmm…you must be Sarutobi sensei's grandson." he said with a snaky tone. I knit my brows. How does he know that? And…sensei?

"I'll ask again, who are you? You're not from this village are you? So spill. What do you want?" I asked.

"Oh, you don't know me child?" he hissed & in a second, he was gone but I could still feel his presence. I crouched a bit & started scanning my surroundings.

This guy, I know he's different from the other ninja. He looks stronger… and, he has a very different feeling from the other humans.

I looked around for him & heard him chuckle.

"Hey, I'm getting annoyed, so come out here & stop playing with me." I said loudly.

He suddenly appeared in front of me & I gasped when he punched my stomach making me fly through the air & hit the tree with my back. His punch was so strong, the middle of the tree cracked & the top half fell above me, hitting the back of my head. It didn't hurt but it was very irritating. I growled & grabbed the tree, digging my fingers into the hard bark. I stood up & threw the tree at the guy.

Wow. He's strong but that punch didn't faze me much. It only felt like a little poke but it was very annoying for him to do that.

He jumped up the air so I threw my kunai & managed to stab his arm.

The tree fell on the ground making it shake. The mysterious man stood on top of the tree & pulled the kunai out his arm & threw it back at me. I caught it & threw it at the ground with my normal strength making the moss covered floor crumble.

I glowered at him & he kept smiling.

"Now, _who are you_?" I hissed angrily. He chuckled instead & made a hand sign.

"We'll meet again, grandson of the third." He chuckled & disappeared.

I stood there with my fists balled up.

"Really…" I mumbled. How does he know I'm the grandson of the hokage? And who the heck was he? I sighed & realized the genjutsu was now gone. So _he_ was the one responsible for that. I blinked & started walking to the direction of the tower.

After a few minutes, I was now in front of the tower & looked around, looking for my teammates. I sighed when I sensed they weren't here yet. I climbed up the two steps & approached the wooden doors. I looked at the doors & lightly pushed them. I pushed them once more but they won't open. I blinked & looked around. I sighed & walked to the wall then leaned on it with my right foot on the wall.

I looked up at the sky & saw the sky was turning orange now. How do I get in?

I approached the doors once again and, as simple as it sounds, I knocked.

I waited for a minute but no one answered. The edge of my mouth twitched & I started walking around the tower. I stopped in front of a door & rolled my eyes.

There was a sign saying:

"_Those who finish the test before the 5__th__ day, use this door."_

I sighed once more, irked & pushed open the doors. Once I opened it, I saw the three sand ninja sitting on one bench at the far left side of the place & Kiba's team sitting at a very far distance while keeping their eyes away from them. It was Air conditioned here so I felt at home here.

Hinata saw me & gave a small smile. "Gakuren." She said with her high & small voice. The six people looked up at me & I waved at Hinata, Kiba & Shino.

"Hey." I said & approached them. "You mind if I sit with you?" I asked them.

"Go ahead." Kiba said. I sat down in front of Kiba & saw Akamaru was hiding in his jacket, shaking.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked staring at the little pup.

"Oh, it's because of what happened with those sand ninja." Kiba said, petting Akamaru's shaking head.

"Why were you even there?" I asked & Kiba explained everything.

He said that Akamaru was starting to get scared even before they got close to the sand ninja & Akamaru was frightened of Gaara's chakra.

"Chakra?" I asked. I wasn't really familiar with it but, whatever.

"Yeah. If Akamaru was _this_ scared, it means that guy's power must be off the charts." Kiba explained. I nodded & pulled my bag over my head & put it next to me. I started rummaging through my bag.

Weapons, the scroll, and the fruits.

"Oh, want some food? I have some apples & berries here." I said & took out a red apple.

"Sure." Kiba said & I handed each of them an apple.

"Thank you Gakuren." Hinata said while eating the apple.

"No problem." I smiled. I stretched my arms behind me with my hands on the floor & yawned.

"Jeez, I never knew these exams were…well… full of...weird people." I trailed off.

"Tch, you got that right. This exam is full of freaks." Kiba snickered & took a bite of the apple.

I nodded at him & suddenly felt thirsty. I opened my bag & froze. No water. I should just make a jug appear in my bag but I might get caught. I sighed & scratched the back of my head.

"Ah, is it okay to go out & get some water?" I asked them with a sheepish smile.

"Hmm…not sure. Maybe." Kiba wondered. I sighed & propped my right arm on my right knee. I swallowed & realized I was really thirsty. I got to my feet & put my bag over my shoulder.

It's amazing they haven't realized I didn't have this bag in the beginning.

"Well, I'll try and get some water. There's a river near here right?" I asked them & they nodded.

I walked to the door & pulled it open but it won't budge. Great, we're locked in here.

"Don't tell me this is a trap." I said turning to Kiba & the others.

"Nope, you can't get out." A familiar voice said. I looked over at the bench & saw Kangkuro grinning at me.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Once you're in, you can't go out anymore. So, we're stuck here until the test ends." He explained & I exhaled sharply. I gave up on the doors & instead went to the wide windows. I looked out at the setting sun & saw the river not far from here. My mouth started to water & I looked away from the window & walked back to Kiba & the others then sat next to Hinata.

"One more day left right?" I asked her & she nodded.

I nodded at her answer & leaned on the wall. I took a deep breath & was thankful that the air smelled good & didn't smell like death. I didn't find my teammates scents so I closed my eyes & took a short nap.

"Gakuren. Hey kid! Wake up!" I heard Anko shout. It must be a dream…

"HEEEY!" she then yelled into my ear. my eyes flew open & I sat up, head butting Anko in the forehead.

"Jeez… WHY DO YOU PEOPLE KEEP SCREAMING IN MY EAR?!" I shouted really loudly. Anko simply chuckled.

"Whatever kid. Get up cause the third test is going to start." She said & I blinked at her. She suddenly grinned.

"Congratulations to all of you! You passed the second test!" she said.

The third exam already?

I looked at my right & saw Hinata, Kiba & Shino were staring at me.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked.

"It's already the last day for the exam so you slept the whole night." Kiba explained. I blinked at them & got up taking my bag.


	18. A Ghostly Flashback

CHAPTER 18:

We passed through many doors & we finally stopped at a huge stone arch & inside was a huge room. It was so big; you could fit 2 whales inside. I craned my neck just to see the tall ceiling.

"Gakuren!"

I looked ahead & saw my teammates all dirty & scratched. I blinked & saw Lee's team and the sound ninja too. The three teams were in separate lines and they waited for us.

Wow. Looking at this, it seems that only 22 people have passed including me. Kiba's team & the sand ninja stood in separate lines as well.

I headed for my teammates but Anko grabbed my arm & dragged me to the front, middle of everyone.

I started to panic. I could feel their stares bore into my back & I could feel my heart shake.

To be honest, one of the scariest things for me is being in front of lots of people. That fear has been dug in me ever since I was a little kid. I was always very quiet & how do I say this…anti-social. But since I arrived in the human world, I became…noisier.

"Stay here." Anko ordered.

"Huh?! But, I have a team!" I hissed.

"Not in this test. Normal teams only have 3 members and you were only put in a team since there were no other squads left to put you in. so, bear with it." Anko smiled. She knew that I hated standing before a crowd.

Anko, you sadist.

I stood like a statue. Literally. I couldn't move one muscle.

In front of me were jounin ninja-the ones from the leaf-guy sensei, Azuma sensei, Kakashi & a woman with long wavy black hair & red eyes. I didn't recognize her but, whatever. And there were more jounin I didn't recognize but our past proctor Ibiki was there too.

Then there were the foreign ninja- 1 jounin from the sand & I from the sound. And in the middle of all that was gramps. He saw my nervousness & chuckled at me. I scowled & pouted at him then looked at the jounin behind him. I ended up looking at the sound jounin. Something was odd about him. He looked really familiar. I stared too long & he scowled at me. I blinked & looked away. It must be someone else…

"First off, congratulations on passing the second test!" Anko congratulated but we all stayed quiet.

"Psst...Gakuren."

I turned to see Naruto with his goofy grin.

"We're all together! This is going to be fun!" he said. I raised my brow at his enthusiasm & smiled.

"Yeah. We're all together. But, I don't think this test will be that fun." I said with serious eyes. Naruto blinked & Anko clapped her hands gaining our attention.

I turned back to see what would happen next.

"Lord Hokage will now explain the third test. Listen carefully." Anko said through her microphone.

Gramps stepped up & his smile disappeared.

"For the coming third test…there is something I'd like you to know before I explain." He said & I raised my brow.

"It concerns the true reason for this exam." He said.

"Why do we have all the allied countries taking this exam together? 'to promote friendship among the countries' 'to raise the level of shinobi'" he started.

"I don't want you to be confused about the true purpose of this exam. But this exam is…a replacement for war among the allied countries." He explained.

Replacement for war? I do not get it.

"If you would go back in time, the current allies were enemies who fought over who would rule. In order to prevent wasteful fighting, the stage those countries chose for battle…that is the origin of the chuunin exam." He said while smoking his pipe.

I knit my brows. I _still_ don't get it.

Does it mean we're representatives for the countries?

"Why do we have to do such things? Isn't this exam for deciding who'll be a chuunin?!" Naruto asked.

Yeah, what he said.

"It is a fact that this exam is an exam which decides who has what it takes to be a chuunin but, this exam has another side, where each country's shinobis risk their lives to protect their land's prestige."

I blinked at him & kept quiet. Keep going gramps.

"Watching this third exam will be leaders & influential individuals from many countries who make up the clients of shinobi. And, the leaders of the countries will also be there to watch each of your battles. And this will signal to potential enemy countries that 'our village has this much power.' so, it will send a political message to the outsiders." Gramps explained.

So, basically it's to show our land's power?

"Yeah, but why?! Why do we have to risk ourselves in this battle?!" Kiba yelled.

"The strength of the country is the strength of the village, the strength of the village is the strength of the shinobi. And a shinobis true strength is only born through life-risking battles." gramps said.

I take back what I told Naruto. This might actually be fun.

"This exam is a place to show off your countries strength & to show off _your_ own strength. It only has meaning because lives are at risk. And that's why those that have come before you have fought in the chuunin exam for this meaningful dream."

"But, why did you say stuff about it being for friendship?" Tenten asked.

"By losing life & establishing balance. This is the shape of friendship in the world of shinobi." Gramps replied.

Not much of an explanation actually.

"Before we begin the third test, I would like to tell you one thing. This is not just a test…this is a life risking battle with your dreams & country's prestige on the line." Gramps said.

"I don't care what it is…just hurry up & tell us what this life risking battle entails…"Gaara said.

"Yes, I'd like to now explain the third test but…" gramps trailed off.

"Actually..." a jounin coughed. He appeared from nowhere & kneeled in front of gramps.

"I apologize lord hokage…from her on, as a referee, will you please allow me, Gekkou Hayate…" he trailed off.

"By all means…" gramps said.

The jounin got up & coughed.

"Hello everyone, I'm Hayate." He said. Once I saw his face I got nervous.

He looked horrible. He had dark circles under his eyes & he kept coughing.

"Before the third test, there's something I'd like you to do." He coughed.

"It's a preliminary for the third test to decide who gets to participate in the main event." He announced.

"What?" I mumbled with my brows knit. A preliminary round?

"Preliminary? What do you mean?!" Shikimaru yelled.

"Sensei, I don't understand this preliminary but…why aren't all the people allowed participating in this test?" Sakura asked.

"Because the first & second test may have been too easy this year…we have a bit too many people remaining…" he trailed off.

My mouth twitched. Easy? One the first test, I was about to die from the surprises & the second test, I've met really weird people & attacked by a snake man. And I am _starving & thirsty_!

"According to the chuunin exam rules, we have to have a preliminary & reduce the number of participants. As Lord Hokage said earlier, there will be many guests at the third test…so the fights could take too long, we are limited in time." he coughed.

"so, those who aren't feeling well after these explanations, please come forward. Since we will start the preliminaries immediately." Hayate sensei said.

My mouth fell. Right now?!

But…but…_water_… my mouth started to water & I sighed. Whatever. Let's just get this over with.

"Umm, I'm going to quit."

I turned to see Kabuto raised his hand. My eyes widened.

"What?! K-Kabuto…" Naruto said, surprised. I was surprised myself. The third time in this test & he's going to give up _again_? I wouldn't be able to do that.

"You're Yakushi Kabuto from the leaf right? You may leave now." the proctor said holding up his clipboard.

"Does anyone else want to retire? Oh…I forgot, this will be an individual battle. You may raise your hand based on your own judgment." He continued.

"Why are you quitting Kabuto?! Why?!" Naruto shouted to Kabuto while grinding his teeth.

"I'm sorry Naruto…but my body is all beat up and now we have to risk our lives. I can't take it…" he trailed off with a sad look. He turned to the exit & waved good bye to us.

We all stared at his back & I can't help but feel sorry for him.

But, I felt something was wrong… I blinked & kept staring at Kabuto's retreating form. I didn't know what it was but…something's off.

I shrugged it off & turned back to the front, looking down at the ground.

"Now, there are no more retiring right?" the proctor asked & I glanced over my shoulder & saw Sasuke with his hand on his neck. I blinked & my eyes widened when I saw a mark; three tear shapes dots in a tight circle. When'd he get that?

I started to feel queasy & again, my heart started to beat angrily. I gulped & looked down at the ground. I started shaking even more & I felt angry all of a sudden.

This must be because I'm starving & I'm getting crabby. I turned away from them & stopped my breath. Normally griffins can hold their breath for even a whole day. I always hold my breath whenever I start getting worked up. I hung my head & shut my eyes tight. The anger kept rising & I suddenly saw images in my head.

My father with his dark purple hair & his sea colored eyes. He looked a lot like me only older & he had a fatherly appearance. He was standing at a clearing & he stared ahead while gripping his long sword. It looked like he was about to fight & suddenly, from nowhere, a man in traditional Japanese clothing jumped out & attacked my father. I gasped when I saw his face. It was the man who attacked me in the forest.

He & my father were involved a deadly dance & father suddenly turned into his griffin form; A giant white wolf with 9 tails & blue eyes.

I froze. If father had to turn into his griffin form, that man must be _extremely_ powerful. A griffin will only transform when he fights a stronger griffin. But that man wasn't a griffin. He was a normal human. Well, I can't say normal actually.

The man & father fought each other, summoning giant creatures. Father turned back into his human form once the man was taken down. It looked like he was unconscious or…dead but once father got close, the man stabbed my father with a sword. It appeared out of nowhere & with shock; my dad just stared at the man & broke the sword in half. He pulled out the sword in his side & fell to the ground on his knees.

What is this? How could that man be able to make my father _kneel?_

The man smiled & seemed to say something then disappeared. My father stayed on the ground, panting.

The scene changed & he was at a house. From one room, I came out & hugged his knees (since I was so short). He looked down at me & patted my head then gramps came in (looking much younger) & gasped at my bloodied father.

Suddenly, the images stopped. My eyes flew open & I realized I've fallen to the ground. I had my hands on the side of my head & I was still shaking. My cheeks were wet from tears. I remember that day now. I was only a kid back then. Since dad was still there it must've meant it was a year or two before that day.

Father came back looking awfully tired & he looked really messy. I couldn't remember anything else anymore & stared at the floor. I was too shaken by that memory I didn't hear Sakura calling me. I blinked & snapped back into reality.

"Gakuren! Gakuren!" Sakura shouted while shaking me. I blinked lots of times & I felt exhausted. I felt a pain in my side. The same place where I saw father get stabbed. I put my hand on my side & exhaled deeply. I was sitting on the floor & I saw the feet circling me. I looked up to see all the leaf jounin were looking at me with concern in their eyes. Grandpa was kneeling next to me with horrified eyes.

I realized I was sweating & I was breathing heavily. I blinked & sighed.

"What happened?" I groaned. I turned to see Naruto & Sasuke were looking at me with shock.

"You suddenly went rigid & fell to the ground then you started whimpering…" Sakura trailed off while pushing my back up. I cleared my throat & got up, wobbly.

"Be careful. Are you all right Gakuren?" gramps asked with a concerned look.

"What happened to you?" Naruto asked. I blinked at him & lightly shook my head.

"umm…" I trailed off. Should I tell them?

"Maybe you should stop." Gramps suddenly said making my eyes grow wide.

"NO!" I shouted with such force, all the jounin & even gramps froze. I stared at him & blinked, surprised by my own tone.

"I mean, no. I don't want to give up." I said with a serious face.

Gramps stared at me & nodded once. "Very well." he said & he turned back to the platform. The jounin turned away but Kakashi sensei stayed in front of me.

"What happened Gakuren? It's not normal for you to just fall down all of a sudden. Plus, you look like you've seen a ghost." He said.

I blinked at him & sighed. "I'll tell you after the preliminaries." I said with a low voice & he nodded, going back to the other jounin.

"Are you really okay? Don't push yourself." Sakura said. I turned to my teammates & gave a tight smile.

"I'm fine, really." I assured. But I doubt I looked any better.


	19. Fast Kill King & Player Kitty Is Back!

CHAPTER 19:

My teammates stared at me & I gave them a wider smile. "Really, I'm fine…" I trailed off. I tried to avoid looking at Sasuke's mark. I just might break down again.

"Um, now…let's begin the preliminary. This preliminary will consist of one on one fighting. You will fight as if in a real life confrontation. The winners will advance to the third test." Hayate sensei explained.

"Well then…there are basically no rules. The fight continues until one of you dies or is knocked out or admits defeat. If you don't want to cough…die, then quickly acknowledge your defeat. But when I decide the winner has clearly been established…since we don't want to increase the amount of corpses, I'll jump in & stop things." He explained.

"The scoreboard over there…" he said, pointing to an electrified board at the top left corner of the room.

"It will show the match ups for each battle." He said then looked at me.

"Oh, Gakuren Akiyama will fight one individual and that individual will have to fight _two_ fights-one with Gakuren & one with another individual." He coughed.

"Now, this might be too sudden, but let's announce the first 2 fighters." He said & the scoreboard turned on then names jumbled around then stopped at two names.

I froze & I wanted to scream my head off.

"Gakuren Akiyama vs. Gaara" the board said.

I glared at the board & sighed. I heard my teammates gasp & gramps looked at me.

I gave him a small smile to assure him I'll be fine.

"Gakuren…you're up against that sand guy." Sakura said while glancing at Gaara from the corner of her eye.

"yeah." I replied.

"The two participants please stand up front." The proctor said & I stayed in my spot & Gaara stood opposite of me while glaring with those dark eyes of his.

"Now, we will be starting the first match…will everyone except the other participants move to the upper level?" the proctor asked pointing to an area where they can watch us.

Kakashi sensei walked up to me & whispered something. "Gakuren, when you use your powers, use a hand sign. Got it?" he reminded.

"Got it." I replied. After sensei left along with the other jounin & gramps, I could feel all the stares boring into me. I took a deep breath…and focused.

Like master taught-focus on your opponent, be in their shoes, know their movements & fight.

"Now, please begin." The proctor said & Gaara stayed put. So did I.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" he asked. I smiled crookedly & started walking in slow circles around him. I kept my eyes on him & I taunted him with amused eyes.

While I walked around him, I could see the confusion in his eyes as he sees the other me's slowly following behind, multiplying & growing larger until hundreds of me's circled him.

This is a technique I learned myself. I was watching my uncle who was kind of an assassin. He would practice outside the house & use this technique to confuse his target then attack.

"Ahh, the other me is coming out again." I thought. I'm completely aware of this…other side of me.

Sometimes, whenever I get into a serious fight, I would tend to play around with my opponent first then finish him off. But sometimes I also love to finish the fight quickly. Because of those two sides of myself I've earned the names- "_Fast kill King_" & "_Player Kitty_".

Why kitty? Don't know why but my friends in Extail keep telling me I'm so silent like a cat, you never know where I'll be. First I'll be in front of you then in a second, I'll be behind you.

I don't mind having those names; it makes it much more fun anyway.

While I circled him, he suddenly crossed his arms in front of himself & looked at me with bored eyes.

"Is that it?" he asked & sand suddenly came out from nowhere & swept my clones away bringing me along with them.

"Whoa!" I smiled & the sand went after me. I started running around the place & more sand appeared on the ground. The sand grabbed my leg, making me fall on my face.

"GAKUREN!" Sakura yelled.

I faced the sand & it started to envelope me. I raised my hands & made a fake hand sign.

"Water." I mumbled. And from the entrance, volumes of water came in like a wave. In a minute, the whole battle field was filled with water. I thought of making his sand wet. Although I doubt it would work. But, you won't know unless you try!

I heard the water roar & I held my breath then it tackled me from behind then tackled Gaara, the water sweeping him away. I sat on the floor, unshaken by the water & saw the sand was now retreating from me. That did the trick.

I stood up with my hair swirling around my face & looked up at the ceiling. The water didn't reach the upper level or the scoreboard but still, I overdid it. I didn't see Gaara anywhere so I looked up & saw floating sand.

Well, all this was useless.

I crouched then jumped through the water & landed on the moving surface. Gaara & I stared at each other & he sent his sand to me. I jumped up the air & held up my hand motioning the water to move in my command. The water rose up into a small vortex & I pointed at Gaara.

The water followed my finger & flew to Gaara with jet speed. Sand suddenly rose up as a wall in front of him but that will be useless.

The water went through the sand wall, revealing a surprised Gaara. The water tackled him making him fall into the water. I landed on the surface & pointed my finger upwards. The water started to form into a vortex & in a minute, I was standing on the slippery floor. At my left was a very tall swirling vortex of water with Gaara whirling inside.

"Let's go round and about." I mumbled, whirling my finger.

"GAARA!" I heard Tamari yell in alarm. I guess this is enough. I opened my hand & the water exploded, making it rain. Gaara fell on the floor with a loud thud; he coughed & raked, getting the water out his lungs.

Maybe I was a little _too_ harsh.

He looked up at me, gasping for air & held his hand out. Sand flew at me & managed to cocoon me right away.

"NO! GAKUREN!" Sakura gasped. I chuckled & felt my muscles tense. Before he could do anything else, I summoned air inside the cocoon & the cocoon exploded. I landed silently on the floor & took a deep breath. I stepped with my right foot & started running really fast.

I couldn't run in my normal griffin speed cause' before the second test, Anko put amazingly heavy weights around my legs making it impossible to use my normal speed.

I ran around & started jabbing him but the sand kept getting in my way. I tried to punch him from every direction & Gaara kept looking around, frantically searching for me.

"Over here!" I yelled then punched the sand on his left.

"Nope here!" I shouted happily then punched the sand on his right. I decided I will be taking too much time. So, let's finish this.

I ran faster around him & at the next minute, I jabbed the floor with my feet making a large hole. I jumped in and I dug through the ground really fast then came out through another hole giving Gaara a powerful uppercut.

I heard everyone gasp & Gaara flew high up in the air. I jumped out the hole & chased after Gaara, punching him over & over again until we hit the ceiling.

I grabbed his collar then threw him to the floor. He fell with jet speed & landed on the ground with such force, it broke the floor & made the air ripple. Debris flew everywhere & I landed on the ground, staring at Gaara.

"It's over." I mumbled. When I _thought_ it was over, once I saw Gaara's body, my eyes grew wide. His body was…crumbling.

I grit my teeth. He used sand to make a fake him? When?!

I crouched a bit & from behind me, I could hear the sand behind me so I turned & the sand rammed me, making me fly back & somersault. I hit the hard wall & stared at Gaara.

He was unscathed. Darn it. I was wasting my time.

I stayed put on the ground & a wave of sand bellowed over me but I was able to jump away in time. I rolled on the floor & jumped up the upper level, landing on the railings. I stared at Gaara with a blank face & thought of ways to get that sand away from him.

"HEY! What are you doing?! Get out there!" Naruto yelled at me from behind.

"Be quiet Naruto." I said & put my hand on my chin. I studied Gaara & wondered. My elements won't work well unless I want to kill him (which I don't.) and elemental or real animals will make the humans too suspicious of me. Which leaves on thing; I have to fight with punches.


	20. The Desert Breaks Me

CHAPTER 20:

I smacked my lips & jumped off the railings, landing silently on the floor.

"You're more difficult that the others…" I mumbled quietly.

"Oh well, time to end this." I said loudly & ran straight to him. He looked at me with surprise in his eyes & before sand could block his front, I appeared behind him & punched his spine, making him fly through the air & fall on the floor.

"Not yet!" I growled & ran to him. I grabbed his collar & threw him up the air. I jumped up & started punching him in the stomach multiple times once we got too high, I threw him to the ground & once he fell, I aimed for him & gave him one last punch that he'll never forget.

The punch was so strong, the air rippled once more & the whole battlefield became dry. Once the dust cleared, I saw this was the real Gaara.

I jumped back, distancing myself from him & stared at him.

All of a sudden, something seemed to pierce my side-The same place where it hurt earlier on but it was extremely painful.

"GAH!" I winced & fell on my knees with my hands on my side.

"Drat." I hissed through my teeth. Ever since that memory flashback, my side kept hurting. I suddenly felt weak like when I cut off my griffin powers.

"What?" I mumbled with surprise.

I didn't think of my powers to disappear but they're cut off. I thought of bringing my powers back but instead my head throbbed.

"AUGH!" I cried. I suddenly felt sand crawl up my right leg. My side hurt so much, even though there was nothing there, it hurt to move.

I tried to crawl away from the sand but it caught my right ankle. I strained to get up & once I got halfway up, I heard Gaara say;

"Sand coffin!"

At the same time, the sand that had my right ankle exploded & I felt my bones get crushed.

"GUAAHH!" I screamed.

"GAKUREN!" I heard Naruto yell.

I grit my teeth & crawled as far away as I can. The pain in my side started to disappear but my head still throbbed. I tried to think of my powers coming back but still the same thing.

I gasped & got up my feet.

I'm stubborn so I won't lose!

I got up & turned to see Gaara slowly get up. That's right get up!

I took a deep breath & calmed my nerves. I ignored the pain in my ankle & side.

And all of a sudden, I felt normal again. My powers are back! I smiled in relief.

But, I won't use my powers any more. I want to beat him the old fashion way.

I kneeled on my right knee then I shut my eyes. I pushed the ground with my left foot & in a burst of power; I punched Gaara on the face, sending him backwards. I plopped down the floor & raised my pants. Underneath were the, not so lightweights.

I snapped the buttons off & stood up with both light weights in hand. I then let them go & they were so heavy, they fell with a very loud BOOM, causing dust to explode around me.

I shut my eyes & sensed Gaara was still conscious. Darn it.

As the dust settled, I saw Gaara, with his back slouched. He was panting & glaring at me. I glowered at him & made a hand sign. This isn't a fake hand sign.

I had my hands together but both my index fingers were held up, pointing at the ceiling while my other fingers were entangled in each other.

This was a sign griffin make to build up power & what humans call "Fear" I felt my blood boil & I opened my eyes. Right on cue, the sand flew towards me but it simply went through me. I heard gasps & Gaara's eyes widened.

I simply walked up to him & thought of finishing this right now. I was getting tired & my head starting to spin.

I approached him & every step I make, I felt power rise in me.

"This is over." I told him once I was only a feet away from him. When I heard my voice, I shuddered a bit. My voice got lower, more powerful like when my dad intimidates his foes with his voice. I disappeared & reappeared inches from his face & flicked his forehead.

He flew back to the wall. He stuck to the wall & he fell to the ground, falling on his face.

I fell on my butt, panting.

I've never done that hand sign before. It was a secret move that only the Akiyama family knows & we're the only ones who can do it. I only saw my father do it a long time ago but I never knew I could actually do it.

I took a deep breath & again my side started hurting. But I felt normal now. My powers were back & the only thing that burned other than my side was my right ankle. I absolutely cannot move it anymore. I have to wait for it to heal until I can walk again.

The proctor appeared beside Gaara & nudged him.

He stood up & nodded. I knew what that meant.

I fell on my back with my arms spread on the floor.

"Gaara is unable to continue, Gakuren Akiyama, winner!" He said loudly.

"YEAH! GOOD JOB GAKUREN!" Sakura yelled.

"YOU GO GAKUREN!" Ino yelled as well.

"Hey! I can do better than that!" Naruto yelled.

I chuckled & groaned. This is exhausting. I sat up & my teammates appeared next to me.

"You were awesome Gakuren!" Sakura yelled and gave me a hug. I must've blushed since I've never been hugged by a girl except master.

"Aha, thanks Sakura." I said & she let me go.

"You did a great fight kid." Sensei said, pulling me to my feet. I winced when I felt the pain in my ankle but I lifted it a little so I wouldn't step on it.

Sakura put my arm over her shoulders.

"Let me help you." she said with a wide smile. I gave her a small smile since I was so tired I felt like I could collapse any second now. If only I had a good meal & some water, I wouldn't be looking _this_ ridiculous.

"Yeah, I could've done better." Naruto said with his arms crossed in front of him.

"You better win in you match." I told him.

"Hey, Gakuren." Sasuke called. I turned to see him holding out his hand as if he wanted to shake mine.

"Good job." He said. I stared up at him & smiled crookedly. I shook his hand & at the corner of my eye, I saw Gaara was being helped by his teammates.

It looked like he could still walk so that was good. I know it's weird I can heal other people but I can't heal myself. I'm still half-human because of my mom so, I didn't have that ability to instantly heal myself. But since my injuries would heal while I'm taking a nap, it was good.

The proctor was right in front of me so I struggled from Sakura's hold to talk to him.

"Umm, sir…" I called & he turned to me then coughed.

"Yes?"

"Will Gaara still have to participate in another fight?" I asked & he nodded.

Honestly, I felt bad. I got too carried away. I debated to myself whether or not I should heal him.

I pulled my arm away from sakura & limped toward the sand ninja.

Once they saw me, kangkuro stepped in front of Gaara.

"You already won! What do you want?!" he yelled angrily. I blinked at them & saw Gaara was looking up at me with the same blank eyes.

I looked away & pouted. "You still have another match right?" I asked him.

"yeah." He said with his low voice. I saw he was all wet from the water & he was covered in bruises.

"Sorry. I went too far. Here," I said & put my hand in my pocket. I summoned a very powerful healing ointment & I took it out then gave it to Tamari.

She took it gingerly from my hands while looking at me with cautious eyes.

"Just put it on your wounds & they'll heal right away." I said. Gaara took it in his hands then the sand crushed the small wooden case. I blinked at him.

"I don't need your help. I can win the next match on my own." he said with an expressionless face & we stared at each other.

I sighed.

"All right. I was only offering but…sorry for bothering you." I said & Sakura ran to my side.

"What are you doing?" she asked in alarm.

"Just wanted to give him some ointment, I went too far." I said & winced at the pain on my ankle.

"Alright well, come on." She said & put my arm over her shoulders again.

We walked up to the upper level & everyone stared at me. Some with smiles on their faces and some with wide eyes. They bought me to one side next to Lee's & Kiba's team. Sakura sat me down & I leaned on the wall. I sighed deeply & sensei handed me a water container.

Water! Once the first drop of water entered my mouth, I drank all the water without stopping & left only the container.

I gave it back to sensei with a sheepish smile. "Aha, sorry." I laughed.

He held the container upside down & not a single drop fell to the ground.

He chuckled at me. "It's fine." He said & messed up my hair. I realized I was still a little wet so I summoned some wind & from the entrance, wind tackled all of us & dried my clothes.

I sighed & closed my eyes. My ears were ringing & I felt horrible. I didn't want to close my eyes. I wanted to see the next match but my chest felt heavy.

That memory…why do I only remember it now? And why do I feel the same wound as father's? Plus, who is that man? To be able to make a griffin go down on his knees like that is almost impossible.

I was thinking so much, I didn't realize sensei was calling me.

"What? Huh? Oh, sorry sensei. I was just…thinking." I apologized.

"You've been spacing out a lot lately. So…" he trailed off & sat next to me.

"Mind telling me what happened when you broke down?" he asked. I still felt uncomfortable telling him with all these people around.

"Maybe later sensei. There are still too many people." I whispered. He stared at me then nodded.

"All right. Get some rest." He said & stood up. After he left, my eyes became really heavy and as the proctor announced the next match, I've fallen asleep.


	21. A Promise Between Father & Son

CHAPTER 21:

I saw my father & grandfather talking. It seemed really important cause' dad had his brows knit which was an expression he would always make whenever he's talking to someone important. I peeked from the doorway to see what was going on.

"_Father, this Orochimaru, I have to kill him! He shouldn't live! He's turned into a demon & he's after _them." Father said angrily while gripping the wooden table, turning it to kindle.

"_Ciel, I know that, but he's far too powerful & he's after you too. That man, he's been after your people for years, trying to find a way to make himself live longer…"_

I heard gramps mumble. I didn't know what they were talking about but I kept my eyes on father. He looked depressed & confused. I've never seen him like this before & it's getting me worried. He tensed & turned to me. I jumped a bit & froze.

He gave me that warm & gentle expression then walked up to me. He then took me in his arms & carried me out to the balcony that overlooked a wide forest & over that forest was a beautiful lake.

"_Gakuren, will you promise me something?_" he asked with a gentle smile. I started to play with his necklace which was made of silver & it held our family crest; on a silver shield was a shiny stone in the shape of a nine tailed wolf that had four colors circling it-green, red, white & blue.

"_What is it dad_?" I asked, looking up at his gentle eyes.

"_Promise me…that you'll grow up well & strong. When you grow up, you have to protect the family & humans as well, like I do. Promise me…you'll always be happy."_ He said with a gentle smile.

I blinked my purple eyes at him & snickered. "_Okay daddy. I promise."_ I said. He held up his left pinky & he and I made a pinky swear.

"And daddy, promise you'll stay with us forever." I giggled. He blinked at me & seemed to look sad. He recovered his bright smile & kissed my cheek.

"promise." He said.

The scene suddenly changed & I was back to that day…that day they all died. I was at master's home & she had her arms around me, comforting me.

"Father…mother…" I sobbed in master's arms.

"Daddy, he…he promised…" I hiccupped. Master hugged me tightly & I sobbed on her shoulder.

"It's okay. Now…" she said & I felt her tears fall as well.

I kept seeing them die over & over again. It won't stop.

"Stop! No!" I yelled & my eyes flew open to see Sakura with her hands gripping my shoulders.

I was panting heavily & my heart was racing. It was a dream.

"Oh, God…" I mumbled & hid my face in my hand.

"What? What's wrong?!" she asked frantically.

"It's nothing. Just a bad dream." I said & gasped.

"Who's the next fighter?" I asked her, sitting up. What I saw next made me lose my breath.

The battle field was a total wreck & it looked like Rock Lee fought with that Gaara kid. I blinked & looked up at Sakura who was wearing a mask of shock on her face.

"What happened here?" I asked & she looked down at me.

"you were actually able to sleep through all that?" she asked with a still sad face & told me the whole story.

After hearing all that…I was speechless. Humans never cease to amaze me.

I looked down at Lee & froze when I saw he was still standing but…he wasn't even conscious. It was just so…amazing that a human can still stand thanks to his will power.

Guy sensei started crying & hugged Lee. I looked away from the scene, cringing as I saw the blood from Lee's arm.

"Lee…" sakura said & she was about to jump down when sensei stopped her.

"What can you do Sakura? You consoling him will only make it harder. For him." sensei said. Guy sensei put Lee down the ground lying down & I jumped over the railing.

I landed on the floor & almost fell to my side thanks to my ankle. I ran [more like limped] to Lee & thought I might be able to heal him.

The proctor kneeled to Lee. "Get a medical team here!" he yelled.

I stopped in front of Lee & turned to see Naruto right behind me.

I crouched down in front of Lee & my eyes grew wide. His bones were crushed.

I grit my teeth & sighed. that's…horrible. If Guy sensei didn't stop the fight, Lee might've gotten a worse injury.

"You're his jounin instructor right? Please come here." one medical ninja asked & guy sensei approached the ninja.

"His breathing is normal but the damage to his left arm & leg where he was attacked is really bad. It's hard to say something like this but…" the ninja trailed off & my eyes grew wide.

"With this body, he will never be able to live as a shinobi again…" he said & my heart stopped. I didn't know why I was like this but since this kid challenged me & I saw the fiery, fighting spirit in his eyes, I wanted to fight him really badly.

I looked at his unmoving body & cursed myself for not being able to heal him. I'm not that strong enough to heal injuries like this. If I was, I would heal him right away.

The medical team put Lee in a stretcher & carried him out the exit.

"N-no…it must be some kind of joke…" Naruto mumbled.

"If that's true then what's bushy brow's supposed to do?! He was always saying how he wants to fight Sasuke, Gakuren & that Neji guy…can't you do anything about it?!" he yelled. I turned to him & put my hand on his shoulder & he froze. He looked up at me & I looked at him with sad eyes.

"Stop Naruto." I said with a low voice.

"Can't _you_ do anything about it?! You have great strenght right?!" he yelled to me, shaking me back & fourth.

"I would if I could…I'm sorry but I'm useless right now…" I trailed off & Naruto stopped shaking me.

"What…?" he asked with a shaky voice. I looked up at him with a sad expression.

"I'm not _that_ strong Naruto... I can only heal minor injuries. I'm sorry, but I won't be able to help." I said with a shaky voice & jumped back up to the upper level. I gingerly landed on the floor but I put too much pressure on my ankle & I fell to the ground.

"Gakuren!" sakura said in alarm & rushed to help me.

"No, it's fine." I said & held on to the railing, pulling myself up. I limped to the wall & leaned on it. I propped my left leg up & put my left arm on it while staring at the ground.

Why did I start acting like this? That kid…he wanted to fight me & _I_ wanted to fight him too. But I lost my chance. And, I feel so…weak. I couldn't help lee even if I wanted to. I grit my teeth & balled up my fist.

"Gakuren, look…it's okay." sakura said with a comforting tone.

"Yeah. I just feel…tsk. I couldn't even help him." I said. After that dream or memory, I started to feel like I have to do what I promised dad. Help the humans.

I shut my eyes & chuckled. "I'm too much of a drama king. It's fine Sakura. I just feel really tired." I said with a tight smile.


	22. My Demon Master Picks My Opponent

CHAPTER 22:

After a while, Naruto, Kakashi & guy sensei climbed back up the stairs & Gaara appeared on the other side of the watching area.

I looked away from him & the proctor started the next match.

The next match was Choji's & that sound ninja's turn.

I struggled up & limped to the railings to watch the next match.

"I hate that I'm such a heavy sleeper. I wasn't able to watch the other matches. Oh, by the way, where's Sasuke? Did he fight yet?" I asked sensei & they all tensed.

"Oh, yeah. You missed it." Sakura said. I pouted & put my elbows on the railings.

The two ninja jumped down the now destroyed battlefield.

"You can do it! Go fatty!" Ino yelled. I saw a vein appear on Choji's forehead. Guess he hates being called fat.

Choji made a hand sign then he suddenly expanded into a ball. Then, his head went inside his shirt along with his arms & legs. He started rolling to the ninja like a giant rock ball.

"I'm not fat! I'm plump!" he yelled. My mouth twitched & I chuckled a bit.

The sound ninja stayed in his place looking really creepy with that bandage mask on his face. He was crouching too so he looked like an escaped mummy.

I suddenly remembered that guy works with sound. It's incredible actually-To be able to disorient you foe with sound. Once Choji got closer, the ninja jumped back but choji kept chasing him around.

Choji hit the wall hard & got stuck. The ninja jumped up the air & punched choji…I don't know where actually, but just punched him.

He then jumped down the ground & punched Choji once more.

"It's no use. I have my ear plugs." Choji said with a muffled snicker.

"Nope. You're done." The ninja said &pulled up his sleeve, revealing that irritating holed arm of his. Suddenly, the air around choji rippled & I don't know what happened but an explosion suddenly occurred.

"Huh?" I mumbled with confusion. As the dust cleared, I saw Choji lying on his stomach, drooling & unconscious.

I blinked & wondered what just happened.

"Winner, Dosu Kinuta!" the proctor announced. So that was his name.

The medical ninja approached Choji. "Hey, are you alright?!" one asked.

I leaned in to hear his response. I was sure he's fine. "I…want…meat…" he mumbled.

Well, I have confirmed he was fine.

The proctor coughed & raised his hand. "With this, the preliminary trials for the round three test have been completed!"

The ones who passed went down to the lower floor & I stood next to Naruto along with 7 other ninja who passed. It seems that the three sand ninja passed, the sound ninja as well, Shikimaru, Shino & neji were here too. But where's Sasuke?

"Well, although one is missing, congratulations to you!" the proctor said. Anko & Ibiki stood beside him while gramps stood at the high platform.

"Well then, lord Hokage, will you please?" the proctor asked motioning gramps to approach us & talk.

"Yes, well now, I would like to start explaining the main test." Gramps said with a smile. Alright. I've made it this far!

I glanced at Naruto from the corner of my eye & chuckled to see his excited face. As usual, he hasn't lost his energy.

"As I told you before, there will be people watching the main event. Each of you will fight to represent the strengths of your countries. I'd like you to show off all your powers with no reserves. Which is why…the finals will be held one month from now on." Gramps announced.

Finally, I get to rest for one month!

"We're not going to do it here right now?" Naruto asked.

"This break, is for preparation." Gramps replied.

"What does that mean?" Neji asked.

"In other words…in addition to informing all the country lords & shinobi leaders, this is the time needed to arrange for the gathering of the event…and this is also the preparation time for you examination students." Gramps said.

"But, the final trial will not be like this. There are some who have shown all they can do to the rivals…there are those who competed & were badly injured against a strong opponent. To make everything fair, the one month should be used by all of you to advance & improve yourselves. Of course it'll be fine to rest your body as well." gramps smiled. I smirked at the thought of me lying under the sakura tree, watching the clouds with the wind kissing my cheeks.

Yeah, that's a nice image.

"Well, I'd like to dismiss you now but there's something we need to do for the finals before that." Gramps said.

"Argh! What is it! Hurry up, I need to train!" Naruto yelled & I rolled my eyes at him.

"Well now, don't get too excited. There are pieces of paper inside this box & you have to pick one from the box Anko's holding…except you Gakuren." Gramps said.

"Huh? Why not?" I asked with a confused look. He chuckled & gave me a sly smile.

"I've already picked someone to fight with you. That person is not from this…village." he said. If he hesitated to say the word _village,_ that must mean whoever it is isn't from this world. Tch.

Anko approached us holding a brown box. "I'll come to you so stay put." She said & one by one, they took papers but Anko just passed by me.

While I stood there looking like an idiot, gramps motioned his finger for me to come close. I blinked at him & approached him.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Sorry about this Gakuren. But it will be hard to pair you up with someone else so I asked Izumi to send one griffin from extail here for you to fight." He said & I tensed.

"What? You asked _master_ to pick?!" I hissed in a whisper.

"Why is there something wrong with that?" he blinked with confusion.

As a matter of fact, yes. Whoever master picks for me to fight, I just might end up losing since she would even ask the 7 griffins to fight me.

"But, we're all even can't I fight normal people?" I asked & he shook his head.

"I know whenever you fight with a human, you hold back. So, I was sure I had to pair you up with a powerful opponent." Gramps said. I blinked & raised my brows with understanding. "Now, just stand here." He said & I stood next to him watching as the others took their papers.

Once they all finished taking papers, gramps cleared his throat. "Now, I'd like you to tell us the number on that paper in order, starting from the left." he said pointing to Naruto.

One by one they said their numbers. Since I wasn't really involved in it, I unconsciously stopped listening & let my mind wander off to random things.

"So, he's 4." I heard Ibiki say, snapping me out of my trance..

"Yes. Now, I will reveal to you the final tournament!" gramps announced.

"HUH?! That's what we drew numbers for?!" Shikimaru yelled in surprise.

Ibiki then took out a drawing pad & showed them what was written there.

It was the matching for each battle. Naruto was fighting that Hyuuga kid while Sasuke was…

My eyes went wide when I saw that name…Gaara. He was going to fight Gaara! I swallowed & shook my head a bit. I have to have faith in Sasuke. He was a strong ninja too.

"Now, you're free to do as you like. With this, I dismiss you all but are there any final questions?" gramps asked.

"I have one." Shikimaru said, raising his hand & gramps nodded for him to speak.

"If it's a tournament, that means there would only be _one_ winner right? So only one of us will be chuunin?" he asked. I blinked at him. That didn't even cross my mind.

"No, that's not quite it. There will be judges, including me, kazekage and other country leaders who will be watching this tournament. These judges will be evaluating your abilities…those judged to have necessary skills to be a chuunin will be able to become a chuunin." Gramps explained.

That means there's a possibility of everyone becoming a chuunin.

"Well, then if that's all, thanks for all the effort you exerted for these trials! You're all dismissed a month from now on!" gramps announced.

I sighed & turned to Naruto. "Well, I'll be going home. I'm exhausted. By the way, where's Sasuke? How'd his match go?" I asked him & his eyes grew bright.

"Oh, right! You should've seen him! He kicked that ninja's butt! But, I'm amazed you were able to sleep through all those battles…" he trailed off, looking at me with disbelief.

I laughed, embarrassed. "Yeah, well, that's what happens when I'm not able to eat." I chuckled.

Naruto then turned to sakura who was up at the upper floor. "Hey sakura, where's Kakashi sensei?!" he yelled.

"I think he's with Sasuke!" she yelled back.

"Thanks sakura! He yelled. Catch you later guys!" he shouted & ran off leaving us in the dust. I stared at his retreating back & walked to gramps.

"Hey, gramps, don't you think the others will find it weird you're making me fight someone else? They might think I'm cheating." I said.

"No they won't. I'll give you a little clue about who you're fighting. He's incredibly strong, that's It." gramps said & left with Anko & Ibiki. My mouth twitched.

Not really good information gramps.

I sighed & turned to Sakura. "Hey, Sakura! Let's go!" I called & she ran down the stairs.


	23. Flower 5 Reunite!

CHAPTER 23:

It has been a week since the preliminary rounds & all I do every day is train & train & train. Today was a Monday & I just woke up. My injury from the preliminaries have healed & I could walk properly again. I took a long bath & changed into black sweats & a black sleeveless shirt. I looked up at the clock & saw it was already lunch time.

While I sipped my tea, someone suddenly came banging at my door.

"What the…" I mumbled.

I put on red combat boots & opened the door to see a breathless Konohamaru.

"Ga-Gaku…" he said breathlessly.

"What is it now? Don't tell me you angered some bulls again?!" I said angrily.

"No, there are some people at gramps' office…he's telling you to go there." He said. I blinked at him & sighed. I went back in my house & changed into white pants, a black elbow-length sleeved shirt paired with a long white sleeveless coat. I left it unbuttoned & locked my gates.

"Okay, so…who are-woah!" I yelled since Konohamaru started running like a madman while holding my hand. So, I was dragged through the village.

We got to gramps' office & I knocked on the door.

"Come in." gramps said. I opened the door & got the shock of my life.

Sitting on the long couch were 4 ivory white skinned boys. Once they all turned to me, I gasped to see my 4 best friends from Extail.

"You're finally here Gakuren. I suppose you still remember your best friends?" Salem asked.

Salem Fukui, who had messy red hair & light red eyes, wore normal clothes with the usual cream colored scarf & cap. Salem was the son of another earl in extail & he was the second strongest & the noisiest in our group. He could control the elements fire & air and as his special ability, he could summon shadows.

My mouth fell & I couldn't tell if I was dreaming or if I was really awake.

"Look at him, he's speechless." Arata laughed.

Arata Himura; the youngest & smart-no, the cleverest in our group, he was a normal griffin who was a great strategist in battle & pranks. His blonde hair has grown until his shoulder & he's looking much more mature than before thanks to his hair & light brown eyes. He could control both water & ice but, unlike the four of us, he doesn't have a special ability.

"Gakuren!" Kai yelled & tackle-hugged me then hit my back with his hand.

Kai Gitsune has been with me since I can remember & I'm the closest with him. He had messy black hair & dark brown eyes. He was the animal lover in our group & the third strongest. He was the son of my father's best friend that's why we always played together when I was very young. He could control all the elements like me and he could take things come to life. Like rocks, pillows, even houses.

And last but not least, Ryuu Shizuka; the quietest in the group & the second youngest, he could control the elements air & ice and he could hear the minds of other people. He had silver hair & he still had his black choker around his neck. He was a normal griffin too but, don't underestimate him. He's really scary when he gets angry.

"Gakuren…we finally get to see you again." Ryuu said with a happy smile.

"You guys, since…when did you get here?" I asked them. I felt like collapsing right now.

"We arrived just now actually." Salem said with a grin.

"Well, what are you doing here?" I asked & froze.

"Don't tell me I'm fighting one of _them_?!" I yelled at gramps frantically. I'll never want to fight my friends in a real fight.

"Haha, you won't be fighting them Gakuren. Your opponent will only arrive a day before the finals." Gramps chuckled.

"What's wrong? think you won't stand a chance against us kid?" Kai asked rubbing his knuckles in my head.

"ARGH! Hey! What are you talking about? I could _totally_ take you on!" I snickered & Kai let go of me then raised his brow.

"Oh, yeah?" he asked & we started wrestling each other on the floor.

"Jeez, he hasn't changed…" Arata sighed. I got up & so did Kai. I punched his shoulder & he chuckled.

"So, not that I'm not happy to see you guys but, what are you doing here then?" I asked them.

"Master Izumi told us to come here & support you in the exams. She showed us the way & well, here we are." Ryuu said.

I blinked at them & froze.

"Until when?" I asked.

"We'll stay until the exam ends of course!" Kai said.

"Don't tell me you'll be freeloading in my house?! I screamed.

"EXACTLY!" they yelled back excitedly & I almost fainted.

As I showed them around the village, eyes stared at us again. I sighed, just when I thought they won't stare at me anymore, I was wrong.

"Wow! It's so nice here!" Arata said, stretching his arms.

"Remember, we have to hide the fact we're griffins understand?" I whispered. My voice was inaudible for humans but for griffins, it was as clear as a bell.

They all nodded in understanding & we headed to buy some food. We bought lots of fruits & meat and tons of ramen. While we walked home carrying the food, the four of them chatted with each other but I suddenly thought of that name again.

Orochimaru…I have the feeling that he's connected with me somehow. I shut my eyes & waved his name away & while I walked, someone bumped into me.

I opened my eyes to see Sakura with a bag of vegetables in her arms.

"Oh, hi Sakura. Sorry about that." I apologized with a smile.

"Ah, it's no problem. I wasn't looking." She smiled. Then she saw my friends & blushed wildly. Oh no.

"Umm, who're they?" she asked with a small voice. I turned to my friends & jumped when Salem dashed by me & grabbed Sakura's hands, clasping them in his.

I forgot to mention, he was a ladies' man.

"Hi there, my name is Salem. And yours must be beautiful." he said with his 'seducing voice'. My mouth twitched & Sakura blushed insanely.

I gave the bag I was holding to Kai & walked up to Salem. I then karate chopped his head with my normal strength making him fall to the ground with a thud.

"Jeez, why have you never changed all these years?" I hissed through my teeth.

"Aha, sorry…" he mumbled & I rolled my eyes.

"Sorry about him Sakura. He's crazy. Don't mind him." I said while pulling up Salem.

"O-okay then. Well, I have to go. Bye Gakuren!" she said & wobbly ran back the way she came from. I sighed & Salem fixed himself.

"You had to do that?" he asked, annoyed.

"What? You won't stop unless I do that anyway." I said & took the bag back from Kai. Since Salem kept flirting with the girls in the village, we took turns hitting his head. After ten hits, he finally stopped & stayed quietly at the back, pouting. After getting a few more things, we went home.


	24. 3 'Kids' Tty to Destroy my Room

CHAPTER 24:

"Wow, Gakuren! Your house is so…small!" Kai said with a smile. I hit the back of his head with the edge of my mouth twitching.

"Why you…this is a normal house in the human world." I growled, annoyed. He still has that incredibly honest side to him.

They put down the bags on the wooden table & sat down the cushions.

"Alright, stay put. I'll make the house bigger." I said & they all stared at me with wonder.

"Whoaaa…we haven't seen you do anything like this for years!" Arata said excitedly.

I blinked at them & went out to the back garden. Once I got to a clear space, I raised my hand & snapped my fingers. Suddenly, my house became longer & bigger. Once that was done, I sighed & stayed outside.

"WHOAA!" they all gasped loudly & I rolled my eyes.

Did I mention that my friends are childish & weird yet? Well, now's the good time for you to know.

I sighed & went in the house to see them already exploring my house. The only one who stayed calm was Ryuu & he was fixing the food in the now bigger kitchen.

I went in the kitchen & helped him out. "Thanks for being normal." I told him making him snort.

We were fixing the food & suddenly, I heard loud thuds from my bedroom.

"What are they doing now?" I sighed & went to my room.

Once I opened the door, my jaw dropped. They were throwing pillows all over the place & some books, chairs & even my soap were moving on their own. Some books flew to Salem's face & Arata started throwing pillows at Kai.

My mouth twitched & I growled loudly. Once they heard me, they froze & all the moving things fell to the ground & the three of them slowly turned to me. I crossed my arms & tapped the wooden floor with my feet while glaring at them.

"What…are…you...doing?" I hissed through my teeth. They all gulped & stood in one line then let go of the pillows at the same time.

"What happened now?" Ryuu asked while leaning at the doorway.

"These guys…no, _kids_ started messing up my room." I said & pointed the floor with my finger motioning them to sit.

Like before, it worked like a charm.

"Who started it?" I asked glowering at them & Arata and Salem both pointed at Kai.

"As I thought…" I mumbled & pressed my temples with my finger while sighing deeply.

"Whatever. Kai, you better fix all this." I said & both Salem and Arata smiled at me with glittering eyes.

"You two help him or you guys will sleep outside." I threatened & walked back to the kitchen to make some snacks then heard the three of them groan.

"I told you not to do this." I heard Ryuu say. I started washing apples & cut them into smaller halves to eat.

Ryuu came in beside me & found the teapot & started making Vanilla tea.

"So, what have you been up to?" he asked with his quiet voice.

"Well, I can't use my powers without doing a fake hand sign…" I trailed off. I didn't want to tell him about the flashbacks.

"What are you hiding? Tell me." he said. I sighed while rolling my eyes.

"How'd you know? I thought you can't read my mind?" I asked.

"I may not be able to read _your_ mind, but, I know you so well to see the changes in your face." He said with a smile & raised brow. That was true. He can't read my mind although none of us know why…I sighed & smacked my lips.

"Let's call the others first. I'll tell you guys." I said & put the sliced apples on two plates while Ryuu took the tea & cups then put them on the table.

Right on cue, Arata, Salem & Kai came back from fixing my room & once they saw the apples, they immediately sat down & started taking pieces.

It's a weird thing but all of us _love_ apples.

"Hey, Gakuren, tell us about your life here." Arata said while munching on an apple.

I sighed & started telling them about the dreams & flashbacks.

Once I was done, they were all silent. Salem was the first one to talk.

"Well, why not ask your grandpa?" he asked while nibbling on the apple.

"Yeah. I haven't told him yet. I'll tell him later." I said while sipping tea.

"What was that name?" Kai asked.

"Orochimaru." I replied & he froze.

"I think I've heard of that name before." he said with tight eyes.

"You've heard it before?"

"I think so…it's a vague memory though." He said.

"In my other dream, dad was saying something about that guy." I said & it hit me.

"Orochimaru was that guy who attacked me in the forest & he attacked father too." I said out loud. I get it now but, why would he attack both of us?

"Yeah but, why would he attack you?" Salem asked.

"That's what I'm thinking about. Father also said that he was after _them_. I think that would be me & Moon." I said thoughtfully.

"But what does he want with you?" Arata asked.

"That's why gramps will be waiting at the office." I replied & finished my tea & poured a new cup for myself. I looked up at the clock & saw it was only 4 pm. I still have to train. I sighed & stood up.

"I'll be going to gramps' office okay? You guys wanna come?" I asked while putting on my boots. Before Kai could take the last apple, Arata grabbed it & jumped to his feet.

"_I'm_ coming!" he said energetically & walked out the house eating the apple & waited for me at the gate.

The others stood up as well & we all headed to the hokage's building.

We got to the hokage's building & when we passed by the meeting room, I saw the door was left ajar & saw gramps in front of other ninja. I was about to call my friends & tell them gramps is busy but then I heard that name once more.

"Then we must cancel the chuunin exam…with Orochimaru…" one jounin said making me freeze.

"No…he revealed himself to Anko and urged us not to cancel it…this exam along with other shinobi allies," gramps said.

"What are you saying?" some old guy asked.

"Orochimaru has power to destroy a small country by himself. Since escaping this village, many countries have wanted to catch him & use his strength." gramps explained.

"So the sand has betrayed us & has teamed up with Orochimaru?!" the old man yelled banging his hand on the table.

I knit my brows. Why would they do that?

"Hey, Gaku…" Kai whispered. I turned to see the four of them peeking right behind me.

"What are they talking about?" Salem asked. I blinked & walked backwards, pushing them back in the process.

"We shouldn't get caught. It'll be _way_ too embarrassing." I said & we stood at the far end of the corridor. I leaned on the wall with my arms crossed in front of me.

"They saying the sand betrayed us & combined forces with Orochimaru. Kai, do you remember anything about him?" I asked turning to him. We all looked at him & he thoughtfully looked down at the ground.

"Hmm, the only thing I remember my dad telling me is that this Orochimaru used to be a leaf ninja but he became a missing-nin. That's all I remember." He said. I looked down at the ground, not knowing what to say or think.

I sighed. "Whatever…" I grumbled & when we were about to walk out the building & passed by the room, I gasped when I heard my name.

"What does he want with Gakuren then?" I heard Kakashi sensei ask. I froze & leaned on the wall. I turned to my friends & they seemed to have heard as well.

"It seems he's still after that immortality thought. I want every jounin to keep an eye on Sasuke Uchiha & my grandson at all times." Gramps said.

"Didn't Orochimaru try to kill Gakuren's father a long time ago? It was unbelievably ridiculous that Orochimaru would try & anger Ciel." The old man said. I blinked & thought of that dream I had.

We all slowly backed away & Kai, Salem and I stood leaning on the wall while Ryuu & Arata sat on the long cushioned chair.

"That guy's after you?" Salem asked. "Well, whatever he tries, no way he's getting near you without going through us!" Salem said confidently while cracking his knuckles.

"You guys should be on the lookout too. You guys are griffins as well so I'm not the only one who will be tracked down. But, he doesn't even know who you guys are so, it'll be fine I guess." I said with a low voice.

"So that's what happened to uncle Ciel." Kai said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"Didn't you see him? One day he came back to your house all bloody. He came to our house too and talked with dad. I don't remember what it was about but it seemed really important." He explained. I blinked at him & sighed.

"Darn it. What is that Orochimaru guy thinking? Immortality by killing a griffin? Please!" I snorted. All of this was just so ridiculous like this was a bad play.

"Don't worry Gakuren. You're the strongest griffin in Extail! And with _us_ here, it'll be hard to get to you." Arata said.

"I don't care about myself. I'm worried for the village." I said & they all went silent. I took a deep breath & exhaled sharply.

"Jeez, let's go. I need to train." I said & we got up to leave.


	25. Again, Humans never Cease to Amaze Me

CHAPTER 25:

While we walked down the corridor, the doors to the meeting room opened & jounin poured out. Good, I can still catch gramps. I walked faster & caught Kakashi sensei by the arm.

He saw me & looked at me with surprise. "Gakuren! How long have you been there?" he asked nervously.

"To be truthful, we heard everything." I said with a straight face.

"Sorry, _we_?" Salem asked form behind me. I rolled my eyes at him in reply.

"Where's gramps? I need to tell him something really important." I quickly said. He stared at me & nodded to the meeting room. "Thanks sensei." I said.

"Wait here." I told my friends & went in the room.

"Gramps," I said while approaching him. He was sitting behind a desk & reading some papers. He looked up at me with surprise that quickly turned to a kind smile.

"Gakuren," He replied.

"I need to tell you something & I need to know some things too." I said & sat next to him. I closed the doors shut & told him about my meeting with Orochimaru in the forest of death & what he told me.

"I want to know too, what he has to do with me & father." I said & spilled everything that happened when I broke down before the preliminaries started. Once I was done, he stared at me with a straight face.

"So, what does he have to do with me?" I asked him.

He stared at me & hesitated to tell me at first then sighed.

"Okay…when you were still a child, there was a day that the two of you visited the village along with your friend Kai & his father. That same day, your father came back from going around the outside of the village all bloody. He told me he met Orochimaru & he knew your father was a griffin." Gramps explained. I blinked at him with surprise.

"Has he ever met father?"

"No. that was the first time your father ever saw Orochimaru." Gramps said.

"Then, what does it have to do with me?" I asked.

"Orochimaru is obsessed with immortality & it has been said if you are able to kill a griffin with your own hands, you will gain more years to live & amazing power. He attacked your father knowing this & we don't know how but…he found out about you and your brother." Gramps said.

"So, basically, he wants to kill me?" I asked & he simply nodded. I thought for more things I want to know & remembered Sasuke.

"What does he want with Sasuke?" I asked.

"That's the problem. We don't know. But please, Gakuren, don't go out the village recklessly." He said with worried eyes.

"I won't. But I'm worried for my friends & this sand village's betrayal…" I trailed off.

"Have you forgotten? You & your friends are the top 5 strongest griffins in Extail. Even if Orochimaru tries to come near you, he'll never be able to touch you." he reminded.

I stared at him but to be honest, I was a little worried. That man was so fast he was able to punch me without me noticing at all. And, when I hit him with a kunai, he didn't even look a bit fazed.

I sighed. "Right…well, now that I've found out some stuff, I can train peacefully." I said while getting up to leave. I got to the door & looked back at gramps.

"Thanks for telling me gramps. If anything happens, let me know. I want to protect this village too." I said & he nodded his head. Once I bid good bye to him, I left to see my friends sitting on the long sofa like little angels. They looked up at me & I gave them a small smile.

"Well?" Ryuu asked & I told them everything.

"Well at least you know some things now." Salem said. I nodded at him & stretched my arms.

"Okay, I feel much at ease now. Let's go home. I haven't trained yet." I said & we all left the hokage's building.

While we were walking, I realized I don't have any more vanilla left. We headed for a place where they sell ingredients & bought some vanilla, milk & cream. Occasionally some girls would flirt with us & only Salem was enjoying the attention. Sometimes we even had to drag him away from the girls.

"I swear Salem, if I find a collar & leash; I will put it around your neck!" Arata growled while pulling him away from a red haired girl.

"I'm sorry! Why are these humans so pretty?!" he hissed in a whisper. I rolled my eyes at him.

"You better not cause a ruckus around here." I hissed while we walked through the streets.

I suddenly remembered, I wanna see if Sasuke's alight now.

"Hey, let's go to the hospital. I need to check on my teammate." I said & we walked to the hospital.

Once we got there, I was about to ask which room Sasuke was in when I saw Sakura & Ino sitting on a bench together.

"Sakura! Ino!" I called.

They both turned to me & I half-ran to them.

"Have you seen Sasuke yet?" I asked them but they looked at each other with worried eyes.

"Gakuren…Sasuke's gone." Sakura said & my eyes grew wide. I heard my friends approach me from behind.

"What's wrong?" Kai asked. It can't be that Sasuke was taken by Orochimaru. I clenched my fist.

"Do they know where he is?" I asked Sakura but she shook her head. I sighed.

"I'll try and find him." I said making them both look up in shock.

"How?" ino asked. And I forgot, ino doesn't know I'm a griffin.

"Well, I'm a good tracker…" I lied.

"Who're they?" Arata asked me with his weirdly cute eyes. I cleared my throat.

"Sakura, Ino." I said pointing to the girls.

"Girls, meet Salem, Kai, Arata & Ryuu. They're from…out of…the village…" I trailed off. I should've thought of an excuse for them.

"Hi. It's nice to meet you all." Sakura said with a bright smile.

Ino was staring at my friends like she's seen ghosts. Well, they _are_ too white…

She slightly shook her head & grinned. "H-Hi! I'm Ino! It's nice to meet Gakuren's friends!" she said cheerfully.

"And it's nice to meet you beautiful wallflowers." Salem suddenly said while kneeling in front of them. The corner of my eye twitched & Kai looked at me. We got to a silent agreement.

We both raised our fists & punched his head down to the ground, making him fall on his face…again.

"Will you stop? Jeez…sorry guys." I said & looked at the two blushing girls.

"NO! YOU MUST NOT!" I suddenly heard a woman say from outside. We all looked outside & I gasped to see Lee doing push-ups.

He had a cast holding up his arm & bruises on his face. But the most surprising thing was he was doing one handed push-ups.

"What's he doing?!" I yelled in shock.

"Lee, stop this! Your body isn't…" the nurse beside him trailed off.

"Please leave me alone for a bit!" Lee yelled looking at the nurse with a sweaty face.

We all stared at him with surprise.

"This kid…" I said. I swear I was speechless.

"…199…!" he suddenly yelled. My eyes grew wide, 199 push-ups with one hand?! He groaned & collapsed to the ground.

"Lee!" sakura yelled & we all jumped out to see if he was okay.

"These humans are…amazing." Arata said with awe.

"That's what I _always_ say." I replied.

"I'll bring the stretcher, please watch over him." the nurse said but Kai stopped her.

"No need. We'll carry him there." He said & I raised my brow at him. He gingerly scooped up Lee, careful not to crush him. I'm amazed he's helping a human. Most of the time, he's scared to touch them since humans are so breakable. But Kai must be thinking Lee's a strong kid. And he is indeed. The nurse led the way to Lee's room while Kai followed holding Lee in his arms.

I turned to Sakura & Ino who were wide-eyed.

I understand why though. Kai is a tall guy & he looks like a big brother. Actually, he may act like a complete child but he also becomes the big brother in the group.

I waited for my friends with Sakura & Ino and after a while, they came back and I walked to the window & jumped back inside.

"Well, see you guys. I'll try to track down Sasuke, so don't worry much." I said with a gentle smile & they both blushed.

After we hit Salem for flirting with Sakura & ino again, we all left the hospital.


	26. My Garden Is Wrecked

CHAPTER 26:

We were heading home & I suddenly heard Konohamaru calling my name from afar. It was faint but, it sounded like he was in trouble. My eyes widened & without a word, I ran to the sound of Konohamaru's voice.

"GAKUREN!" Salem yelled & I felt them chase after me from behind but I ignored them. Konohamaru's in trouble.

I heard his voice come from the top of the hokage's building. I raced & saw the hokage faces carved on the stone wall. I heard Konohamaru scream again & jumped up the building.

"KONOHAMARU!" I shouted & once I jumped over the railing and landed on the floor, I froze to see Konohamaru standing before his entire class with a pose like superman & Iruka sensei standing next to him staring at me with surprise.

"See?! I told you he has strong hearing!" konohamaru yelled happily. My mouth twitched & I sighed then put my face in my hands.

"Gakuren!" Kai yelled form behind along with Salem, Arata & Ryuu.

I groaned & made unintelligent sounds.

"So, you _weren't_ in trouble?" I growled through my teeth.

"Nope." He said with a grin. My mouth twitched & I sighed.

"Woah! It's Gakuren! Cool!" the kids started yelling making me blush.

"Well, Gakuren, while you're here, I have a question to ask." Iruka sensei said. I blinked at him & waited for his question.

"Who are the people important in your life?" he asked & I blinked. No one's ever asked me that before.

"Umm, well…" I trailed off rubbing the back of my head. I felt embarrassed since I was saying how I felt…

My friends chuckled at me but I ignored them.

"Well, Konohamaru…my best friends…my teammates, gramps and…the people in this village even though I've only been here for not so long." I said, embarrassed.

"awww…" Kai said suddenly hugged (choked) me.

"Hey, let go." I said still embarrassed. I looked up at Iruka & laughed nervously.

"You truly are the grandson of the third. Caring for people all around you." he said with a proud smile.

"So, Iruka sensei, who'll be the third?! Gakuren?!" one girl yelled making my face feel hot.

"Well, could be. But it could also be your sensei! Haha!" Iruka sensei laughed.

"Looks like a nice class Iruka."

I turned & saw gramps appear. "Oh, Gakuren, what are you & your friends doing here?" he asked me.

"Konohamaru called me." I said.

"Lord hokage!" Iruka sensei said with surprise.

"Oh! It's the third!" some kids yelled.

"ah, what are you doing here Geezer?!" Konohamaru yelled & I raised my brows at him & he became silent.

"I just wanted to see the faces too." Gramps smiled.

"Perfect timing actually. Lord Hokage, please, could you come over here?" Iruka sensei asked while motioning gramps to stand beside him & gramps did so.

"Everyone, this is the owner of the third face on the mountain; the third lord hokage!" Iruka sensei said.

"The third was said to be the strongest of all, such a genius that he was often called the "professor"." Iruka sensei explained.

"I wanna hear this." I told my friends & us all leaned on the railing watching the class.

"Hey Iruka! Don't use past tense!" gramps said flabbergasted making Iruka sensei apologized with a laugh.

All the kids started saying their doubts about gramps being the strongest hokage. Iruka sensei started yelling on how it's an honor to be given the name hokage & one kid reminded me of Naruto. He said he'll be hokage soon but Iruka sensei laughed saying things about how the kid's low grades won't help him be hokage.

Then the students asked gramps a question.

"Then lord hokage, do you have important people in your life?" one kid asked.

"Hmm? Why yes. My two grandsons-Konohamaru & Gakuren and…all the people of the leaf village!" gramps replied proudly. I smiled at that & turned to see the sun was setting.

"Well, I have to go. I haven't trained for today yet." I sighed with a smile.

"Good luck then Gakuren." Gramps said along with Iruka sensei. All the other kids said goodbye & I messed up Konohamaru's hair as a good bye then all five of us left to go home.

We got home after an hour so it was already 5 pm. My friends stayed inside while I practiced that hand sign I did before. I didn't know how it worked, I just put my hands like that instinctively & it worked. But, this time it wouldn't work so well. I thought of my 'fear' going & still, no luck. I sighed & kept going at it.

"You're able to make your 'fear' visible now?" I heard Kai ask. I turned & saw him sitting on the wooden floor.

"I was but now I can't." I said with a straight face. He then walked up to me, watching my hands.

"That family ability of yours is really cool. I wish I could do it too." He said thoughtfully.

"Really?" I snorted & he nodded quickly.

"I've seen your father do it before! If he does that hand sign, you may be able to see him, but you won't be able to hurt him! Plus, when he looks at his opponent, his eyes glow dark blue!" he exclaimed excitedly. I blinked & imagined myself looking like that. I pursed my lips & tried once more.

"You know, it won't work if you practice on your own. I'll help you train." Kai said & I nodded.

"Go ahead, do anything you like." I said but he shook his head.

"Nope, we'll practice on your 'fear'." He said & started attacking me with punches.

"Think if showing your true power." he said while I dodged his punches. I sprinted up the tree & landed on the branches but Kai was right behind me. He sprinted up to me then grabbed my leg & threw me to the ground. It seemed he got stronger since it hurt when he threw me.

I got up & Kai stood before me with that impressive glare he has. I took a deep breath & did the hand sign & I felt power rise in me. I kept on making it stronger & my eyes flew open. Kai then waved out his hand & fire ran to me but, it wasn't able to hit me since it simply went through me.

I then appeared & reappeared from everywhere confusing Kai. Once he was really confused, I summoned out my favorite long sword & sliced the air with such force, the wind blew & tackled Kai, making him hit the hard wall with his back & fall onto the ground.

After that, I blinked & my mouth fell.

"Oops. Kai! Sorry!" I yelled & ran to him. Once I helped him up, he started laughing & messing up my hair.

"You did it! You should've seen yourself, you looked so cool! You're eyes dilated & turned into a small ball of purple & behind that was all black! It was awesome…and a bit scary." He added making me chuckle. We kept on sparring each other & he taught me a new trick with water & ice.

After hours of training, we finally stopped at midnight. We fought each other without holding back, my garden was wrecked & I had bruises, scars & cuts all over myself.

Kai has gotten really strong after this period of time. I was impressed. Back in extail, we were known as the five strongest, smartest & best known griffins. I was the strongest in the group while Salem was second & Kai was third. Ryuu & Arata are really strong too.

I fell on the grass, exhausted. My muscles were so tight & I couldn't move my arms.

"Haaa…let's stop for tonight." I sad breathlessly looking at Kai who didn't look any better than me. He nodded & fell on the grass, lying on his back. I lied on my back as well & stared up at the sky. My eyes grew bright when I saw there were so many stars.

"Hey Kai, look up at the sky. There are so many stars." I told him.

"Oh, yeah. It's nice here…by the way, when will you go back home?" he asked. I blinked & sat up.

"Well, once I find Moon, I'll go home." I said.

"Why not stop with the whole revenge thing? It's not good for you." Kai said & sat up.

"I can't stop. Moon's here in the human world but I don't have a clue as to where he is. If he attacks this village, I need to be here to protect it." I said with a serious face.

"I've never seen you…so…devoted before." Kai said with admiration. I gave him a small smile.

"I don't know. This village & its people have grown on me. There might be some crazy people (Naruto) but, still, I remember I made a promise to dad." I said.

"Promise?"

"I promised him I would protect the humans like he did before." I said & he smiled proudly at me.

"Well, at least let us help you."

"No." I simply said. "I have to do this alone. He's _my_ brother." I replied.

"Sorry about that. I know, it's none of our business, but…you better be careful & not die on us got it?" he said with his fist balled up & his knuckles pointing towards me. I blinked & smiled then did the same gesture.

We sat next to each other under the cherry blossoms, star gazing.

"Hey, you two. Stop dating each other & come inside. I made some ramen & tea." Ryuu called with his head sticking out from the door.

We both jumped down & ran inside the house.

We came in to see Arata & Salem have already started eating while Ryuu poured some tea for each of us. Ryuu maybe the second youngest, but he seems more mature than all of us. We all ate ramen together while exchanging stories & jokes.

"You guys have been training non-stop. Better stop for the day or you'll get fatigue." Salem said.

"I already feel tired. But, it's fine. It was fun anyway." I chuckled while rubbing my shoulders. Ryuu poured me some cold vanilla tea & we talked about unimportant things until 3 in the morning.


	27. I become A Little Too Enthusiastic

CHAPTER 27:

Day before the third exam…

It was only 5 am & I was already training. I didn't have any new moves at all except for that 'fear' and I've been training without my griffin powers. If my powers ever got cut off again, I have to be ready. I've been practicing my kicks & punches, speed and so. (Since those are the _only_ things I can do without my powers.)

While I sparred with a doll I made, I sensed someone watching my back. I turned to see my friends watching me from the door.

I panted & gulped. "What?" I asked them & they shook their heads. I ignored them & kept practicing.

"Hey, Gakuren! That's enough! It's already 3:15 and you haven't eaten yet! Come in & have something to eat!" Arata called. I ignored him & kept on with practicing my 'fear' control & summoning elements.

I was extremely tired & I bet my legs were shaking cause' I could barely stand. If master chose my opponent, I'm positive he or she is very strong. I've never been beaten by an opponent that master chose but the fight takes an extremely long time to finish. So, to make sure I end this quickly, I need to train better.

I heard Salem sigh & suddenly, something seemed to tie me up. I tried to escape by jumping up but I just fell on my face. I looked up & saw Salem over me.

"That's enough. You might collapse." He said & I sighed.

"Fine… But will you get me out of these ropes?" I asked, squirming. I looked at my tied body & found black shadows were tying me up.

They slowly disappeared & once I tried to stand up, I immediately fell back to the ground.

"Whoa!" Salem said when he caught me. I wiped my sweat & chuckled weakly.

"See? You should stop now. All this training will bring you to the hospital." Ryuu said pointedly from the door. Salem put my arm over his shoulders & brought me inside.

He sat me on the cushion & Ryuu poured me some vanilla tea. After that, they banned me from training no matter how many times I try to escape their eyes. The whole day passed like that- me in bed & staring up at the ceiling with my friends watching my every move.

Day of the third exam…

I woke up with Kai shaking me awake. I slowly opened my eyes & rubbed them.

"Wake up. It's already 8 am. Your grandpa said the third test starts at 12 o' clock sharp." Kai said. I sat up & went to take a bath.

I changed into black pants that I can easily run in without them bothering my feet or them falling off. I wore a white sleeveless shirt & a purple jacket. I put my muffler around my waist & put on my favorite black combat boots.

Kai & I went out to the main room & saw Salem, Ryuu & Arata were already having breakfast. Ever since they came here, the cook has been Ryuu & I was the one responsible for watching over the little kids (Salem, Arata & Kai of course.)

So, basically Ryuu was the mom while I was the dad. After breakfast, we decided to go around the village so that my friends can see the village for one last time before going back home.

We explored the whole village for hours with everyone staring at us. While my friends explored one portion of the village, I was at the training grounds training alone. I kept practicing until my friends arrived.

"Hey Gakuren, it's already 11:30. Let's go to the arena." Kai said & we headed to the arena for the third test.

We arrived there after a short while & this was my first time seeing the arena. It was a huge dome with the top open. Two guards watched the entrance & saw me.

"Gakuren! There you are! You better hurry in. the third test is about to start." One of them informed us. I nodded with understanding.

We went through the entrance & once I was inside, I was overwhelmed to see all the people watching from above.

"Hey, Gakuren!" I heard some yell. One by one, they started cheering for me. My hands started to shake & I cleared my throat. My friends were taken up to the area where they'll watch while I was taken to some kind of waiting area on one side of the arena.

"Hey! Gakuren, there you are!" Naruto yelled excitedly while I climbed up the stairs. To be honest, I was getting terribly nervous.

"Hi…" I greeted weakly. Behind Naruto on the far corner were the sand ninja.

Shikimaru, Neji & Shino were sitting quietly in once corner.

"So, where's Sasuke?" I asked. I wasn't able to track him down but for some reason, I feel that he's going to come sooner or later. Naruto grit his teeth angrily.

"I don't know. Well, wherever he is, he better get here in time!" he growled. I stared at him then sighed. I walked to the wall & leaned on it, wondering who my opponent will be.

It could be one of the 7 griffins or one of master's relatives since master's family is a really strong clan.

After a long while, the third test finally started. The participants-us, were taken to the arena & we all stood in one line. I stood next to Naruto & looked up at the covered area that held two special seats. One had my grandpa sitting in it & one was empty. Gramps was talking to a jounin & he looked troubled when I saw a person in robes & the hat bearing the symbol of the Kazekage.

Behind him were to ninja in cream colored robes. The Kazekage sat down & I suddenly felt uneasy. My stomach started to feel tight & I found it hard to breathe without a shaky breath. I took a deep breath but I still felt the same.

Well, even _I_ get nervous. I looked up at gramps & he smiled at me. I smiled back & looked at the kazekage. He stared at me with expectant eyes & I bowed my head to him. Once I looked up at him again, I felt some kind of familiarity with him & it wasn't a good kind of familiarity. I blinked & smiled kindly at the two leaders & looked away.

It must be a misunderstanding.

"Thank you everyone for coming to the Chuunin exams! We will now start the main tournament matches…between the 9 participants that were able to pass the preliminaries. Please stay & watch until the end!" gramps announced happily.

I looked at Naruto & raised my brow. I've never seen him look so serious before. It's amazing…

"I would like to tell you something before the matches." The proctor said & held out a paper that had the match pairings written.

"There have been minor changes so, take a look again to see who you're fighting." He said. I realized that sound ninja was gone. I wonder if he quit.

"What about Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"If he doesn't appear by the time of his match, he'll receive a default loss." The proctor replied.

He'll come. I'm sure of it. Judging by Sasuke's personality, I'm sure he won't back down from a fight even if it meant crawling all the way here.

"Okay, this is the final test guys. The arena is different but the rules are the same like in the preliminaries. You fight until one dies or admits defeat. But if I determine if the fight is over, I'll step in to stop it. Got it?" he said.

"Now, the first fight is Naruto Uzumaki & Neji Hyuuga. Those two stay here while the others stay up at the waiting area." The proctor announced. We all started to leave but I patted naruto's shoulder. Once he turned to me, I gave him a big smile.

"Do your best k-…Naruto." I said. I think it's time for me to stop calling him a kid. Since he got this far, I have a new found respect for him. He stared at me with wide eyes & red cheeks. I chuckled at him & rubbed my knuckles in his head.

"Argh! Gakuren!" he yelled and pouted like a little kid. I laughed at him & headed to the waiting area.

I put my elbows on the railings & watched as Naruto raised his fist with his knuckles facing Neji. I'm sure he's saying something like: "I won't lose to you!"

"NOW, THE FIRST FIGHT BEGIN!" the proctor yelled & stepped back.

Shikimaru stood next to me.

"You think that kid has a chance?" he asked & I snorted.

"Of course I do. That kid…even if he doesn't look it, he has a hidden power. And... I'm positive he has a good chance in winning." I said.

I felt Shikimaru stare at me & my hands stared shaking. I'm really anticipating naruto's fight.

"You're the one to fight next right?" Shikimaru asked & I blinked.

"Oh, yeah." I replied suddenly remembering.

"Who're you fighting?"

"I have no clue." I replied with a sheepish smile.

After a long while, the fight was over with Neji lying on the ground & Naruto winning. I have to say, I held my breath the whole fight. One part of the fight was totally amazing; I wanted to fight Naruto right then & there. Bottom line is-I'm impressed with Naruto & I now see he's not such an idiot.

"Winner! Naruto Uzumaki!" the proctor yelled & I started laughing like a maniac.

"What the- hey, Gakuren, what's wrong with you?!" Shikimaru yelled in alarm, backing away from me.

I put my arms around my stomach, willing myself to stop but I just couldn't. That fight was so unbelievable & fun. I've never seen a match like that in such a long time. I wiped my tears & took a deep breath.

"Ahaaa, I'm fine! ALRIGHT NARUTO!" I yelled to Naruto & he looked up at me with wide eyes. I gave him a wide smile & a thumbs up. He blushed then laughed & started jumping up & down.

The crowd went nuts & I felt revved up for my fight. They put neji in a stretcher & took him to the infirmary.

After a while, the crowd started getting impatient. Naruto ran to the waiting room & once he arrived, I immediately gave him a high five. I put my arm around his neck & started rubbing my knuckles in his hair.

"You're amazing Naruto! You totally got me going! I'm all excited to show you _my _strength now!" I said with a wide grin. He pulled away from my hold & grinned.

"Well, I _am_ great." He bragged. I then hit his head.

"Oww! What was that for?! You were praising me & then hit me? What's with that?!" he yelled in annoyance.

"Don't brag about yourself too much. It's rude." I said & sighed.

"Well, guess you are still a kid… squirt." I chuckled.


	28. A Dozen Punches is Nothing to This Man

CHAPTER 28:

"OKAY! Now for the second match!" the proctor announced. I stretched my arms & sighed.

"See you guys." I said with a smile. Before I could get down the stairs, Naruto suddenly grabbed my shoulder.

"Don't lose." He said with a smirk. I blinked at him & smiled back.

"Yeah." I replied. I can't assure my win since I have no clue about my opponent. For all I care it could be the strongest one in the 7 griffins. I was about to walk down when I suddenly felt like I was being pulled to the railings.

"Wha-what the?!" I yelled in alarm while I was being dragged to the railings.

"Gakuren?! What are you doing?!" Naruto yelled.

"I'm not doing anything!" I shouted back. I turned to the arena & my eyes widened. I then fell over the railings & I heard the crowd gasp. Before I could fall on my head, I flipped 3 times & landed on the ground.

On the opposite of me standing with his arms crossed & feet apart. He wore camouflage pants with combat boots like mine, and a green ripped sleeveless shirt & a dark green cape. He had orange hair & a confident smirk.

"Takeshi Crowe…" I mumbled hiding my excitement.

"Well, well, Gakuren! It's been such a long time! How strong have you gotten kiddo?!" he laughed with his loud and scary laugh.

I knew it…master sent one of the 7 legendary Griffins to fight me.

Typical of her.

Takeshi Crowe was the 3rd strongest & he was all brute strength. He barely appears in Extail's main city & goes around our world for who knows what.

Whenever he comes back, the city turns into a walled city. Literally. He tends to break everything around him even without knowing it. So, the city was made to withstand his strength. Takeshi & I have a good relationship. He's way stronger than me & I always challenge him whenever I see him but I end up in the hospital all the time. He's a big guy actually & he has huge arms that intimidate the strong ones.

If you're wondering what his special ability is, he doesn't have one & he doesn't control the elements either. He simply uses brute strength.

I stood up with my hands shaking. I kept my eyes on the ground to keep from charging him.

"Well, Gakuren, do you want to go on with this match? You've been trying to beat me for years but never have. You should give up now while I'm still letting you." he said. I looked up at him with a confident smirk.

"Oh, Takeshi, you also know I'm not one to run away from a fight with you. No way I'm giving up this chance!" I shouted happily. He chuckled & then looked at me with a serious face.

"You realize I won't be holding back on you right?" he asked.

"Well, I won't either. I've gotten stronger Takeshi! So, I accept this challenge to show you how strong I've gotten." I said with a crooked smile. I took my stance-right foot behind the other & left hand raised with the back facing Takeshi.

"NOW! BEGIN!" the proctor yelled & jumped up somewhere. It was a good decision. Cause' if I'm fighting Takeshi, this arena will be in ruins in no time.

Takeshi wasn't one to attack first so, I charged him & I felt my stomach clench like I was bracing for a hit. I felt as light as a feather & this shows that my power is in its highest.

After a second, I was inches form Takeshi's face & I punched his stomach with my normal strength & the air rippled. The wind was so strong some trees fell to the ground & the wall behind Takeshi left a circular crack.

Once the dust settled, I gasped to see Takeshi was still standing. I looked up at his face & he seemed unfazed. Darn. His strength hasn't changed one bit. He looked down at me then simply pushed my forehead making me fly back & hit the hard wall with such force; the wall shook & cracked behind me. I fell to the ground on my butt & gasped for air then chuckled.

I put my face in my hand & peeked at Takeshi through my fingers.

"Fun…" I mumbled. Right now, I feel like I'm turning to player kitty.

I got up & punched the ground. A crack snaked across the arena & headed to Takeshi. He simply jumped into the air & I made a fake hand sing then spread my hands. From each side of me, two holes appeared & from each hole, giant birds flew out with jet speed, aiming to attack Takeshi. These two birds are red birds with powers to spew fire.

I looked up at the sky & saw Takeshi quickly falling back to the ground with the birds following him. I stood there, thinking of what to do when all of a sudden, I saw Takeshi grab the two birds with his bare hands & crush their necks.

The birds fell through the air & fell in front of my feet then turned to dust. I grit my teeth & Takeshi landed on the ground. I stared at him & he had that same smirk on his face. I narrowed my eyes at him & smiled.

I lunged him once again & threw punches & kicks at him. Every time I tried, he simply pushed my attacks away. I felt my muscles tighten & I jumped away from him & charged him once more. My eyes widened when I was actually able to land a really strong punch on his face. He flew through the air & hit the hard wall then fell to the ground. He looked up at me with wide & surprised eyes.

I looked at my hands & chuckled.

Takeshi got up once more then looked at me with serious eyes.

"Your grandfather says we can use our powers. So, let's play." He said with a smile. Suddenly, he whipped his cape over himself & once he pulled it back, all kinds of weapons flew towards me.

I dodged each of them with surprise in my eyes. I forgot he can do that too.

I made a fake hand sign & clapped my hands together. I then slammed my hands to the ground & a wall of dirt shielded me from the flurry of weapons. I sped off to charge Takeshi & my hands blazed into flames. I gave him a flurry of fire punches & I felt my stomach clench. I gave him an uppercut & he flew up the air. I chased him & kicked him over & over again.

"I'm not gonna lose anymore!" I shouted & appeared in front of Takeshi who had an extremely surprised expression. I spun & kicked him down, sending him plummeting to the ground.

He fell with such force, the entire arena crumbled. I landed on the ground & I felt a presence behind me. I felt my heart grow tight & once Takeshi punched me, his fist simply went through me.

I reappeared behind him & kicked him. He flew to the wall & looked at me.

"You…Fear…" he mumbled with complete shock. I started to feel my blood boil & the air around me started to turn into a vortex. The ground shook & bits of the ground started floating.

I stared at Takeshi not undoing my fear & he smiled at me. He stood up & he lost his smile.

"So, you _are_ serious. Well, I'll stop holding back now…" he trailed off & suddenly, I felt an overwhelming power come off from Takeshi. The air started to feel tight & I had a hard time breathing. I looked at Takeshi & started shaking.

His cape flew up revealing huge battle scars & cuts. He suddenly started glowing with a green aura, his eyes have changed & turned pure black. The ground under his feet suddenly crumbled & it looks like the arena was hit by a bomb. Once the dust cleared, I saw Takeshi with his true strength & power.

My eyes grew wide & I felt unbelievably ridiculous compared to Takeshi. My stomach clenched & I felt all my power draining. I blinked & grit my teeth.

I lunged Takeshi & once I got close enough to punch him, my heart stopped. All this power, I couldn't take it. I stopped in time & slowly pulled back.

He's way too strong.

All his power started wrapping around me making me feel like a pathetic little worm standing before a powerful dragon. I looked at him with wide eyes & I slowly backed away.

This is his real power & I'm positive I can't beat him now.

"Well?" he suddenly asked & a chill went down my spine once I heard that low & powerful voice that made my teeth buzz.

He looked down at me with those dark eyes & I unconsciously started kneeling down to him. I fell on my knees & grit my teeth.

"I...I…I surrender to you…" I said with tight eyes. The power around me started to decrease & I felt the air loosen & I relaxed.

I stared down at the ground & suddenly started crying.

"Darn it…I still can't beat you…" I mumbled with a shaky voice. I dug my fingernails into the ground & Takeshi put his hand on my shoulder. It's so embarrassing to lose like this. But, my master told me, if I can't beat him, then I'll just wait for the day when I can.

"I'm proud of you Gaku." I heard Takeshi say. I didn't want to look up at him & let him see my pathetic face.

"You have indeed gotten stronger. Giving up is a part of growing stronger. There are only a few people able to retract their weapons in battle." He said. I looked up to see him smiling down at me with a proud & happy smile. I blinked & my heart stopped. He looked so much like father when he smiled.

He pulled me up & gave me a hug. "You did well." he said & I sighed.

I pulled away from him & wiped away my tears.

"I give up." I said with a loud voice. The proctor appeared & stared at me.

"Takeshi Crowe wins!" he announced making the crowd grow silent.

"Good job kid." The proctor said with a grin. I gave him a smile & took a deep breath.

"Well, I might not be able to beat you _now_. But someday I will! That's a promise!" I shouted to Takeshi. He chuckled & patted my back.

"Alright. I'm looking forward to that." He said with a grin.

I got to the waiting area with my back aching. I groaned when I got to the waiting area.

"Gakuren!" Naruto yelled & I sat on the bench. I took a deep breath & hung my head.

"Ugh. I feel horrible." I mumbled.

"That was amazing! Who was that guy?" Naruto asked & I looked at him.

"One of the most powerful people I've ever known." I replied.

"You were awesome! Even though you lost…" Naruto added making me chuckle.

"Yeah. I can't win against him…not yet." I said.

"Looks like you're not that strong." I heard Kangkuro say. I looked at him with a bright face.

"Kangkuro…" tamari said.

"Hey! Watch your mouth! I'm sure you won't last a minute fighting Gakuren!" Naruto yelled. I looked at him with a raised brow. He was _praising_ me?

"Humph. I won't lose to _him_ or any loser like you." Kangkuro said stubbornly.

Before Naruto could attack Kangkuro, I stopped him. "Don't, Naruto." I said & looked at Kangkuro.

"Yeah. I'm not that strong. But I advise you to watch your mouth when you insult my friend. I might not be able to hold back my temper on you." I threatened with a smile. He shuddered & looked away from me.

I looked away & saw Shikimaru shudder while Shino simply stared at me. (Well, I think he did.)

"Listen, Naruto, don't let such things get to you. Just _show_ them that they're wrong." I said while smiling at Naruto.

"Hey, Gaku!"

I turned & my best friends tackle-hugged me.

"That was awesome man!" Salem shouted & rubbed my head.

"Ahaha, thanks guys. Why are you guys here? Are you allowed up here?" I asked them.

"Gakuren," I heard someone say.

I looked at the staircase to see one jounin ninja waiting for me with a serious face. I walked up to him & he pulled me to a private place.

"The Lord Hokage is asking you to go to the academy." He said & I raised my brow at him.

"Why?" I asked & he shrugged his shoulders.

"He just wants you to go there." The jounin replied.

"Okay then." I said & he nodded then disappeared.

I sighed & walked back to my friends.

"Well?" Arata asked.

"Gramps wants me to go to the academy." I replied.

"Why?" Naruto asked & I shrugged my shoulders.

"I won't be able to watch Sasuke's match, so tell me what happens." I told Naruto with a smile. He blinked at me then nodded in understanding. My friends & I then left for the academy.


	29. An Embarrassing Reunion

CHAPTER 29:

We got to the academy & stayed at the running field. Ryuu summoned some blankets & big umbrellas for us to relax with.

I plopped onto the soft blankets & sighed.

"This is soo comfy…" I sighed happily.

"Hey, Gakuren, where's Takeshi now? Did he leave already?" Arata asked & I nodded with my eyes closed.

Someone put their hand on my head & I opened my eyes to see Salem looking down at me with a happy smile.

"You were awesome kid. I tried to fight Takeshi but I couldn't even last a minute." He said with an embarrassed chuckle. I gave him a small smile & felt my eyes grow heavy.

"Wonder why gramps wants us to go here." I mumbled under my breath.

"Gakuren…" Ryuu said.

"Hmm?" I mumbled & when he didn't reply I opened my eyes & looked at him. He was sitting next to me staring at the clouds with a worried expression. I blinked at him & sat up.

"What is it?" I asked & followed his gaze. My brows knit when I saw a rainbow. But this was no normal rainbow-it was circling the sun. I've never seen any rainbow like that before but for some reason I was feeling uneasy.

"Am I the only one who feels uncomfortable?" Arata asked. I blinked and stared at the rainbow. I shrugged it off & lay back on the blanket.

"It must be nothing. I'll be asleep." I said & shut my eyes.

I woke up to a loud BOOM! My eyes flew open & I jumped to my feet. What I saw made me speechless.

Behind the walls of the village was a giant three headed snake. But what got my attention were the tear shapes on its sides & head. The same marks on sasuke's neck.

"Guys. You see what I'm seeing right?" Arata asked.

"Uh-huh, a giant snake? Yeah. I see it." Salem said. Those marks…they were put on Sasuke by Orochimaru.

My eyes grew wide with realization.

"Orochimaru." I hissed & my friends whipped their heads to me.

"What was that?!"

I turned to see one chuunin ninja come out from inside the academy. Once he saw that huge snake, his eyes grew wide.

"Evacuate the kids! Get them far away from here!" I ordered him. He nodded quickly & ran back inside.

"Guys, I need to go to the arena & warn gramps. You ready to take on a snake?" I asked them & Arata laughed.

"Well I am! I love this place!" he yelled happily while doing a fist pump.

"You go Gakuren. We'll handle this thing." Kai said with his hand on my shoulder.

"Thanks guys. Beat it down." I said with a smile.

"Hey, your 'other side' is coming out Gakuren." Salem said with a chuckle & I gave him a confident smirk. After a second, they all sped off to help the other jounin who were holding back the serpent & I raced to the arena.

Once I got there, I tensed to see a huge purple barrier up on the roof of the watcher's area. I gasped to see inside was what looked like a jungle I squinted & saw my grandfather wearing all black. It looked like battle clothes & in the open area was a familiar man-Orochimaru.

"What is this?" I growled & looked down at the battlefield to see the proctor & the sand ninja's sensei fighting. I struggled to look for Naruto & Sakura so I jumped down to the watcher's area to find Kakashi & guy sensei fighting other ninja with all the other people sleeping.

One ninja saw me & lunged at me with his knife but I simply lunged him & punched his stomach. He flew through the air & made a large hole through the wall.

Kakashi & Guy sensei turned to me with surprise.

"Sensei, what's going on here?" I asked calmly. I walked up to them & all the enemy ninja aimed for me.

My brows knit & I simply waved my hand, taking all the air from their lungs & they all fell to the ground.

"Thanks." Kakashi sensei said & I nodded.

"Gakuren!"

I turned to see Sakura sitting in front of Naruto & Shikimaru who have fallen asleep. I jumped to her & my mouth twitched when I saw Shikimaru was wide awake.

"Hey, get up you faker." I hissed at him & he sighed.

"You were awake?! You could release genjutsu too you idiot!" Sakura yelled angrily. Shikimaru sat up & stretched his arms like he just woke up.

Sakura started releasing the jutsu on Naruto when I looked back at the barrier.

I growled & sped off. I jumped over the railings landing on the battlefield & jumped up the roof where the barrier was. Staring helplessly at the barrier were the black ops.

"What are you guys doing? Why don't you help my grandfather?!" I yelled angrily. They turned to me with surprise & hung their heads.

"You don't understand grandson of the third. This barrier, if we touch it, we'll burn to death. We can't do anything but sit & hope the Lord Hokage will beat Orochimaru." One of the black ops said. I blinked & grit my teeth.

"I'm sorry I got mad." I apologized & walked up to the barrier.

"NO! Grandson of the third! Don't!" the ninja yelled. I ignored him & stared straight at Orochimaru. He saw me & chuckled.

I glowered at that pale face with merciless eyes.

"Get out of our village you snake." I growled & he laughed loudly.

"Gakuren! No don't! Stay out of this!" gramps yelled from somewhere. I ignored him & kept my eyes on Orochimaru.

"Well, well, little griffin. I was looking for you actually. Great timing. I would like you to see someone again." He said & from nowhere, something hit my side really hard, I felt my ribs crack.

I fell on my side & winced at the pain. What I saw before me made me gasp.

There were two Moons. One of them had black pants & a black cape covering his arms. He had dark purple hair & cruel red eyes. Standing next to him with his hands tied up by something had the same dark purple hair but he had sea blue eyes. He looked a lot like my father but this man made me feel a great familiarity. He wore a long white shirt that was all dirty with black baggy pants. He was covered in bruises & cuts.

The Moon in black clothes then kicked the other Moon's back, making him fall on his face. I heard him grunt & he looked up at me with eyes full of emotions I couldn't read.

"Ga-Gakuren?" he asked with a low & powerful but gentle voice.

My eyes widened with confusion. I sat up with effort & crawled away from the two clones.

"What is this? Who are you?" I asked, my voice filled with confusion & panic.

"Oh, my. Don't even recognize your very own brother? How cruel you are child." Orochimaru chuckled. The other Moon growled at him & turned to me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked me & I stared at him, unable to speak.

"Oh, you look so confused. Let's talk in private shall we?" Orochimaru said & started to walk up to me. I crawled away from him & once the black ops were about to attack the Moon in black, I stopped them.

"I'll handle this." I told them & they stayed put.

"Stay away from my grandsons!" gramps yelled & suddenly, he grasped Orochimaru & when I was about to get up, something hit my head really hard, making me lose consciousness.

"Gakuren! Gakuren! Wake up! Don't you die on me!" I heard someone yell. I slowly opened my eyes to see Moon looking down at me, breathless & with a bloody head.

"Gakuren." He said & my eyes widened. I immediately jumped away from him but fell on my knees. My head & left side throbbed. I gripped my head & froze at the site of my blood. I looked at Moon with a glare.

I turned to the barrier & I felt my heart stop to see my grandfather, lying on the ground with Orochimaru standing before him, shaking. He was dangling his arms which were now dyed in a purplish color. He glanced at me & growled.

"We'll finish this some other time." he hissed angrily & the barrier disappeared. Four other ninja wearing robes jumped to Orochimaru's side & they all disappeared.

"GAKUREN, BEHIND YOU!" Moon yelled. I turned & my eyes grew wide to see the other Moon right behind me with a huge katana.

Before he could impale me, I raised my hand & stopped it just in time. We both stared at each other & I noticed he had no human or griffin presence whatsoever.

My hand started dripping with my blood & I glared at him.

"What are you?" I growled. He gave me an evil smile & something in me snapped. I punched his stomach making him fall to the battle grounds but before he could, I grabbed his cape, pulling him back & pounded him into the hard ground making him cough out blood.

"Answer me." I hissed angrily.

"Heh. Relax. I'll tell you. You're pathetic for not even noticing your brother was never the one who killed your clan." He chuckled darkly. I froze & my eyes widened.

"Then who did?" I asked then it hit me like a ton of rocks.

"You…you killed them." I said with a low voice. He stayed lying on the ground but he had a smirk on his face.

"Precisely. Lord Orochimaru was planning to destroy your clan because of your wretched father but your real brother found out about his plans so Orochimaru kidnapped him & on that day, he put me in your brother's place to kill the family since your brother wasn't cooperating." He said coughing out blood once more.

I slowly turned my head to see Moon kneeling to the ground, his shirt was bloody & through the rip, I could see he was greatly wounded. He was…kidnapped? I can't believe I didn't notice. Even a little bit.

"You, is this the truth?" I asked Moon with shaky eyes. To be honest, I wanted to believe that he wasn't the one who killed my clan.

He stared at me with eyes filled with emotion & gave me a gentle smile. Like dad used to. "yes." He replied & I silently whimpered with happiness.

The fake Moon stared chuckling making me turn back to him.

"You are an idiot to notice all this just now. I feel nothing but pity for your brother." He said weakly while looking up at the sky.

"What's Orochimaru's plan with us? And Sasuke too. What does he want with us?!" I growled angrily.

"Well…as for that…I can't tell you…" he said then his breath stopped. I growled with frustration & felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped & turned to Moon who was looking at me with gentle eyes.

"I finally…get to see you again." He said & I froze when he hugged me tightly.

"You…I'm so sorry…Gakuren. I wasn't able to protect you…" he said with a shaky voice hugging me tighter.

He held me in arms length & laughed a laugh that was so much like father's.

"I'm so happy we're back together again. You've grown well kid." He said with his hand on top of my head. I stared at him with mixed emotions.

I was so shocked to find out _he_ was the real Moon. Part of me believed this was all real but part of me didn't want to believe. He looked at me with a confused expression that quickly turned into a smile.

"You don't believe me do you?" he asked & I looked down at the ground.

"Well, I understand that. But…" He trailed off & I looked up at him & gasped when I saw him with open arms.

"A little hug?" he asked with a gentle voice. My eyes stung with tears & even though my side & head still hurt, I ran to him with all my strength & hugged him tightly.

I couldn't say a thing. I was too busy staring at the ground, embarrassed.

"Um…I don't normally do this sort of stuff so, can I stop & simply tell you I believe you?" I asked, embarrassed.

"Ahaha. You _have_ grown up you squirt." He chuckled & messed up my hair but he refused to let go.

"Let go." I said while making a face at him. He stared at me with a blank expression & shook his head.

"No."

"Let go."

"No." he said & to my surprise & humiliation, he kissed my cheek. My eyes widened & I pushed his face away making him look up at the sky. JEEZ! He hasn't stopped doing that! Even back when we were kids, I vaguely remember him making fun of me by kissing me repeatedly. Because of this, my friends would keep on teasing me all week.

"GAH! GROSS! GET AWAY FROM ME YOU DISGUSTING, PERVERTED BROTHER!" I roared & he simply smiled stupidly.

"Nope. You'll just hit me then. Ahaha. I'm sorry. It's just that you've grown _so_ cuute! Well, since _I'm_ your brother." He chuckled proudly. I kept on pushing his face away & kicked him.

Don't be bothered. Even though he had a wound, he barely looked fazed by it.

I was about to walk to Moon but he suddenly widened his eyes & what happened next was too fast.


	30. I Hate Emotional Stress

CHAPTER 30:

From behind me, blood flew everywhere. I quickly turned & almost fell to my knees when I saw a sword through Moon's side. He coughed out blood & I saw the fake Moon was still alive & His right hand had turned into a sword.

The real Moon raised his hand & cut the steel sword & backed away wobbly. He managed to stay on his feet & pulled the sword out then fell on his side.

"Brother!" I yelled & ran to him. It felt weird calling him like that since I haven't been calling him brother & have been calling him mean names instead.

"If…I still…manage to kill…one of you…Lord Orochimaru…will still be proud of me…" he said & coughed out blood.

"Shut your mouth." I said & jumped up the air then summoned my katana. Before I could stab him & end his petty life, I was encased in a ball of water. The water rippled & glowed.

"What the?" I mumbled & turned to see Moon was the one who summoned the water ball.

"What are you doing? We have to kill him!" I yelled at him but my voice was distorted like I was underwater.

He lifted his finger & motioned the ball to come to him & I floated towards him.

"No. if you kill him, you're no better than him. And, have you forgotten what father had taught us?" he asked & I raised my brow.

He smiled with amusement & looked at me with those gentle eyes.

"Never kill anyone even though they have done you wrong." He said & I froze. I remember that a little but only bits of it.

I turned to the fake moon & felt his power grow incredibly weak…like a human's.

"A human?" I asked moon & he nodded.

"A weak one at that." The fake moon said & I stared at him with pity. I know it's mean but I couldn't help it.

"Lord Orochimaru gave me a purpose & when your brother came, Lord Orochimaru extracted some of his powers & gave it to me. But my life will only last for a few minutes now. I was a weak child back then but my Lord saw that I can be of use to him. So, I helped him." he explained.

"Why do you look like my brother?" I asked & he chuckled weakly.

"It's nothing but coincidence that I look like him." he said with a low voice.

"He doesn't look much like me really." Moon said from behind me & I heard him wince.

"Will you be quiet?! You still have that wound & talking won't help!" I scolded making him chuckle.

"I'm…envious of you…" the fake moon said making me stare at him with surprise.

"You have such a great brother & family and friends. You're lucky. While we…had your brother…he won't tell us a thing about you…" he said weakly. I felt his life force grow weak & the ball of water melted, gently putting me in a puddle of water.

"What's your real name?" I asked.

"I didn't…remember my real name…Lord Orochimaru called me…Kioko. Ironic right…? A name that means-'child of happiness.'" He said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"I was originally a leaf citizen but I was taken by someone & I lost my memories…I just wish I could see one beautiful thing. Something that will make me happy…even a little." He mumbled & I felt my heart tighten when I saw his tears.

I walked up to him & summoned a ball of crystal clear water. In that ball of water was an image that was very beautiful to that person I'm showing this to.

His eyes widened & he started crying. I leaned down to him & pushed the ball into his chest. The ball of water melted into his body & I saw him cry even more.

"Why…why are you…showing me kindness?" he asked with a shaky voice.

"Because no one deserves that kind of sadness…" I trailed off. His eyes widened & he gave me a kind smile. I smiled back & he stopped breathing.

I felt his life force slowly drain away until it was all gone.

I sighed & ran to Moon. He sat on the ground while gripping his side.

"Can you still hang in there?" I asked & put my hand on his side.

He winced when his skin got hotter. While I was healing him, my side suddenly started hurting again. I groaned & fell on my side.

"Gakuren!" Moon yelled in alarm. I grit my teeth & gasped for air as the pain grew worse.

"What's wrong?!" he yelled but I couldn't respond. I was too afraid I might scream in his face.

"GAKUREN!" I heard Salem yell & then a growl came.

"YOU!" Kai growled. I heard Moon grunt & I felt Kai's power rising.

"NO! DON'T!" I yelled at Kai. It hurt my side so much to shout, it made me tear up.

"What?" Arata growled.

"Stop…he's my brother…he didn't do anything wrong." I groaned. I slowly opened my eyes to see Arata & Ryuu kneeling next to me while Kai had Moon's shirt in his fist with Salem standing over Kai.

"What do you mean? He killed your family!" Kai hissed.

"He's not the one who did it…" I trailed off. The pain was slowly subsiding so I sat up with some effort.

"Careful." Ryuu said with his hand on my back.

"I'm okay." I replied.

"Kai, let go of Moon. I'll tell you guys everything…" I said. They all looked at each other with a puzzled expression. While I told them the story, Salem's brow kept on rising up like it wanted to escape his face. After I was done, my eyes widened, remembering gramps.

"Gramps." I said & jumped to my feet. I looked up at the roof & saw many jounin.

It must mean gramps won! I grabbed Moon's wrist & dragged him to the roof so we can have a little family reunion.

"Wait, Gakuren." Moon said & while I jumped up, he pulled me back down making me fall on my back.

"Hey! Come on, we have to see Gramps!" I yelled excitedly & despite his protesting, I jumped to the roof with Moon's wrist in my hand.

I let him go & for once, I was smiling a genuinely happy smile. Even though it's only the four of us-Me, Konohamaru, Moon & gramps, we're still a family.

The jounin saw me & I ran past them.

"Gramps!" I yelled once I got through the crowd & almost fell on my knees.

I started shaking & I felt my heart break into a million pieces just like when that day happened.

"What…what's going on?" I mumbled. I walked up to gramps' lifeless body & I felt my blood turn Ice cold.

"No…that's…that can't happen…" I said with a shaky voice.

"Gakuren…" Moon said from behind me. I walked up to gramps & looked down at him. I snorted when I saw that kind smile on his face despite him being covered in that blasted color I hated with my life.

I grit my teeth & fell on my knees. I wanted to cry so much but the tears won't come out.

"Gaku…"

I turned to see Moon with a forced smile. "It's gonna be okay kiddo." He said trying to sound like an older brother. But he failed since I saw his puffy eyes & red nose. He put his hand on my shoulder & kneeled down next to me.

"Why is it always like this?" I asked him with my eyes on the green tiles. I clenched my fist & I really wanted to punch something.

"Why…" I trailed off, not knowing what to say anymore.

"I know it's a little cruel but…gramps died protecting something he loved. At least he died with dignity." Moon said. I looked up at him & saw he was holding back on tears. I remember he was the crybaby among the two of us so I ended up snickering a bit.

"What?" he asked with a nervous tone. I shook my head & gave him a small smile.

"I'm happy I found you again bro." I told him. He looked at me with teary eyes & when I though he was gonna burst into tears, he put his hand on my head & patted me.

"I'm happy too." He said. I smiled & looked back at gramps. Even though I was getting tired, I made another ball of clear water & pushed it into gramps chest. I figured gramps should be happy too.

"Gakuren…"

I turned to see my best friends with surprised eyes that quickly turned to sadness.

"Gakuren, are you…?" Arata asked without finishing his sentence. I nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said & Moon and I stood up.

"So, you're the griffin child?" I heard someone say.

I turned to see a big old man with giant white hair. I blinked at him and nodded. He raised his brow with a smile & looked down at gramps.

"He was a great teacher." He said. "My name is Jiraiya. One of the legendary sannin." He said & I felt Moon tighten his grip on my shoulder.

"The legendary sannin? So you know about Orochimaru?" Moon asked getting me interested.

"You know about him?" I asked & he nodded.

"That guy was always a strange one. So he finally made his move…" he mumbled. I sighed & gripped my hair. I walked up to gramps & stood over him. I spread my arms & grass & flowers started to sprout from underneath gramps. After a while, he was lying on a soft patch of grass. I stared at him with sad & angry eyes.

Sad because right when we were going to be a family again, he died & angry because of what that snake has done to my gramps & my brother.

I shut my eyes to keep my temper in & turned to my brother.

"I need to…think & breathe…" I said with a low voice. Moon nodded in understanding & I walked to the edge of the roof & jumped down then sped off not knowing where to go.

As long as it's far & no one's around, it'll be a good place to let everything go.


	31. Moon Gets Beat Up Twice In a Row

CHAPTER 31:

2 days later…

I looked up at the sky & sensed it was going to rain. It was only 8 in the morning & it was terribly cold. I stood up from the soft grass & decided to head home.

After the attack on the leaf village, I didn't go home for 2 days & stayed outside of the village. I had to clear my head from all that happened. Every night I hear them looking for me but I didn't want them to find me sobbing behind a tree.

Everything made me too confused & it felt so frustrating. I sighed & I sped off to my house.

I got home & saw my friends and Moon out in the garden. It seemed like Moon's injuries have healed. That was good. I also noticed they were wearing all black.

"Gakuren! Where on earth have you been?!" Salem yelled with alarm. They swarmed me & I struggled to get through them.

"It's fine. I was only outside the village…" I trailed off & stopped in front of Moon. I looked u0p at him & to my surprise; he slapped me really hard, making me fall to the ground.

"Ow!" I whimpered.

"What's wrong with you?" he hissed. I looked up at him to see he was giving me a glare like how dad used to when I did something really bad.

"Do you have any idea how long we've been looking for you?! when things are this bad, even though I understand how you feel about this, don't go running out the village & not telling any of us how long you were going to be gone!" he yelled angrily. I stared at him with a partially open mouth.

I blinked lots of times & looked down at the ground with shame.

"Sorry. I'm…really sorry." I said out loud & stood up. I kept my eyes on the ground, not wanting to let them see my shameful face. I heard Moon sigh & I felt someone put his hand on my head. I looked up to see Moon smiling again.

"You understand now? There are lots of people here who care about you. So don't go worrying them. Okay?" he said patting my head & I nodded in understanding.

"Why are you guys wearing all black?" I asked them.

"Grandfather's funeral. It was good you came here in time." Moon said. They were all wearing the same kind of clothes-black loose pants & a black loose long sleeved shirt.

I went in to see that I had the same thing too. I wore it & once I got out to the garden, it started drizzling. I started to feel sad again. It looks like the heavens are sad too.

We were at the top of the hokage's building & all the ninja were here. I also saw my teammates. We walked to the side & I saw Konohamaru's shaking form. Iruka sensei had his arm around Konohamaru's shoulder, comforting him. I walked up to them & patted Konohamaru's head.

He looked up at me with a very messy face. I took out my handkerchief & wiped his face. He suddenly hugged me tightly & sobbed into my shirt. I crouched down & hugged him tightly.

"It's okay." was the only thing I could say to comfort him.

"I-I miss him…" he cried. I put my hand on his head & kept my tears in check.

"I do too." I replied.

"Gakuren…"

I looked to my left & saw Naruto with a bandage on his cheek. He looked at me with sad eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked & I nodded.

All of a sudden, the rain started pouring & we began with the funeral.

After the funeral, I told the others I wanted to stay for a bit so they left me with grandfather's picture on a table in front of me.

"I miss you gramps. I hate that you won't be here next to us to see how far me & Moon will get. I don't know what to do anymore. Should we go back to Extail? There's nothing left for us here & I want to tell everyone about what happened to Moon. What do you think?" I asked gramps' picture.

It was weird that, even though he was gone, I still felt him around me. I'm imagining him in his office chuckling & saying- "it's up to you."

I sighed put my hand on the table.

"Hey."

I turned to see Moon behind me & looking down at gramp's picture.

"How were you able to hang on after all these years? After everything that happened…most people would try & kill themselves." Moon said not looking at me.

"Why would I kill myself?" I asked, confused. Moon looked up to me with surprise & I blinked at his reaction.

"I wouldn't waste my life just because of those horrible events. There are still people here who I care about; Master, my best friends, the village & everyone in it." I explained. Moon stared at me for a while then chuckled.

"I'm proud of you kid." He said with a wide grin.

Why is he so upbeat while I'm always gloomy? I decided that I don't want to lose my brother again no matter how annoying, crazy & weird he could be.

Before we left, we put an umbrella next to gramps to shield him from the rain & walked back home.

While we were walking, I saw my teammates heading home together.

"Hey, guys." I called & they turned to me then froze.

"What?" I asked. I turned to see nothing behind me & looked back at them with confusion.

"Is that…your, brother?" Sasuke asked & I nodded.

"Why are you together?" he asked with confusion in his eyes. Suddenly, from nowhere, Naruto punched Moon's face. Moon fell down & put his hand on his cheek with shock in his face. I held Naruto back & hit his head.

"What's wrong with you?!" I yelled angrily.

"But he killed your-"

"He wasn't the one who did it!" I shouted & he stopped thrashing.

"Huh?" they all asked. I explained the story to them once more with Moon standing awkwardly next to me.

"Oh." Was all they could say.

"Umm…sorry about punching you…" Naruto apologized with an embarrassed tone.

"Ahaha, It's fine." Moon said with a laugh.

"Moon, these are my teammates-Naruto, Sasuke & Sakura." I said introducing them.

"Guys, my brother, moon." I said & they greeted each other.

"Well, we'll be going now. I need to talk with my brother." I told them & they nodded then we went our separate ways.

We got home to see my friends all drinking Vanilla tea in the main room so my entire house was filled with the delicious scent of vanilla.

"Hey guys." I greeted & they all turned to us with surprise.

"Oh, hey." They greeted. We both sat down & Ryuu poured us some tea.

"I was thinking, maybe we should go home now." I said they all froze.

"What? Why? Aren't you going to be a ninja here?" Arata asked.

"I already am. Besides, I want everyone to see Moon & know exactly what happened. Master says we have a lot to do once we get back." I said.

"What will you tell your friends? And what if Orochimaru comes back?" Ryuu asked. I blinked & shook my head.

"Don't worry about that." I simply said.

"So, let's go home tomorrow." I said & they all nodded in understanding.


	32. Silver Pocket Watches

CHAPTER 32:

The next morning, I got changed into black pants, usual combat boots & a white long sleeved button down shirt paired with a black leather jacket.

"Hey, Gakuren, you ready?" I heard moon ask.

"Yeah." I replied & snapped my fingers. All the important things in the house disappeared & I decided to leave the house to Naruto & the others as a parting gift.

We left the house & all of us had small backpacks.

As we walked through the village, we met my teammates.

"Hey, where you guys going?" Naruto asked.

"We're-"

I was about to say we were going to leave when I felt a griffin's presence. It was coming from the gates.

"Guys…someone's here." I told my friends & for a second they were silent then we ran to the gates.

Once we got there, I heard Moon gasp & he suddenly walked in front of me.

"Hikari?" he said loudly & from the gates, I saw a girl with long dark purple hair, amber eyes & flawless white skin. She wore a pink dress & she had her hair tied with a red bow.

She turned to us & her eyes widened. My mouth fell as well.

"Hikari chan?" I asked with an open mouth.

How in the world did she get here?! And _why_ is she here?!

She suddenly smiled widely at Moon came running to us. They both hugged each other in a very dramatic way like they haven't seen each other in years. (Which was the case.)

What was their relationship you ask?

Hikari Kawaguchi was my brother's fiancée.

Yes. He was engaged to someone. This marriage was arranged a very long time ago even before I was born. Ridiculous really. I was glad father never let me agree to an arranged marriage.

"Moon! I knew it! You were here! My visions were right!" she squealed happily.

"I missed you!" moon said while digging his face in her shoulder.

All we could do here was stand like total idiots while my brother & his girlfriend made kissy faces. Yuck.

"Hey, what the heck are you doing here Hikari?" Kai asked. Oh, I forgot, she's Kai's older sister. So, that basically makes the two of us brothers.

They both turned to us & laughed with embarrassment. Moon let her down & she walked to us & gave each of us hugs.

"It's good to see you boys again." She said with a smile.

I like Hikari chan. She was nice, fun, she knows how to fight on her own, she's smart & one of the prettiest girls in Extail.

"Wait, so, you knew Moon wasn't the one who killed my clan?" I asked her & she nodded.

You see, she had the power to see into the future but only short lengths of it like what will happen in the next few minutes.

"Yes. That's why I came here. Everyone knows this already & they're excited to see moon." She said & moon twined his fingers into her hands.

"Jeez, you didn't have to come here sis." Kai said with annoyance.

"Better duck down little brother." She suddenly said with a radiant smile.

"What?" Kai asked & right in cue, a huge piece of wood hit the back of his head making him fall to the ground.

"Oh, sorry about that!" the man holding the long wood apologized.

"No problem…" Kai muffled from the ground.

"Well, anyway, Mrs. Izumi wanted me to tell you something Gakuren." Hikari Chan said.

I tilted my head waiting for what she has to say.

"She wants you to go home now. She says you have a lot to do as the son of the Earl. And… we're going to be married next week." She suddenly said looking up at Moon with happy eyes.

"Huh?! Next week already?! That was fast." Arata gasped.

I sighed & rubbed my head. "Why don't you guys go ahead? I need to tell my friends about this." I said. They got the message & they all left me while they headed to the portal leading home.

I walked around the village & found Naruto along with Sakura & Sasuke. They were sitting under a tree talking to each other.

"Hey." I called gaining their attention.

"Gakuren! Are you okay?" Sakura asked while running to me.

"Yeah. I need to tell you guys something." I said & started explaining my plans & the current situation.

"What? Leave? But…" Naruto trailed off.

"I know. I'm sorry but it seems father left some things for me to do since he's the earl in Extail. I have lots of things to do & Moon's getting married…" I said.

"When will you come back?" Sasuke asked. I shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't know. But, here." I said & handed each of them a small silver pocket watch/necklace.

"Whenever you guys need me, just push the button, and I'll come right away." I said while putting the necklaces in their hands.

Naruto & sakura looked at me with a sad expression while Sasuke stared at me.

"Naruto, when I get back, I expect you to be a stronger ninja. I'll be reserving a fight with you in the future." I smiled. He blinked & snickered at me.

"Sakura, get stronger too & don't fall behind neither Sasuke nor Naruto. Got it?" I asked her. She blushed & nodded at me with a smile.

"Sasuke, just a suggestion…stop this revenge…and, ask your brother why he did it." I said.

"He wanted me to-"

"That's not it." I replied making him stare at me with a confused expression.

"Siblings, family, they tend to hide the bad things from you. Maybe he was protecting you from something. You never know. So when you see him again, take things slow & ask him before you kill him." I said with a smile.

"Well, I gotta go see Konohamaru & sensei. Good bye for now." I said & left to find Konohamaru.

I was at the park & saw Konohamaru sitting on the swing, staring at the ground.

"Konohamaru." I called. He turned to me & smiled.

"Gaku!" he yelled & ran to me. He tackle hugged me & I chuckled.

"You mind listening to me for a bit?" I asked & we sat on the swings. I told him everything that happened & after all that, he frowned.

"You're leaving?" he asked with a sad tone.

"Yeah. I have lots of things to do. I can't leave my world alone either. Plus, I need to help Moon with things." I explained.

"But, don't be sad." I said & gave him the same pocket watch & told him what I told my teammates.

"Really? wow." He said staring at the watch with glittering eyes. I put my hand on his head & gave him a wide smile.

"Well, I'll be leaving now. I don't know when I'll be back but… I want you to be a strong ninja when I'm back." I said.

"And, don't let your emotions cloud your judgment." I said. He looked at me with confused eyes & I chuckled. I stood up & took a deep breath.

"I'll miss you kid. Bye for now." I said & walked away to find sensei next.

"Wait Gakuren!" Konohamaru yelled. I turned & almost lost my balance when he hugged me once more.

"Bye Gaku. I'll miss ya'." He mumbled. I chuckled & messed up his hair.

"Don't get all mushy with me." I said. We said our goodbye's & I left to find sensei.

I've been circling the entire village but I couldn't find them so, I just headed to the gates. Once I got there, I stopped to see Iruka sensei standing there, looking straight at me.

I walked up to him & gave him a smile.

"You're leaving now?" he asked.

"How'd you know?" I asked &he pointed behind me. I gasped to see all the squads looking at me. I blinked at them & they all waved good bye.

"Bye Gakuren! We'll miss you!" Ino yelled. I smiled at them all & snickered.

I turned back to sensei & he patted my head. "See ya' someday then." He said with a smile.

"Tell Kakashi sensei I'll miss him." I said & turned to my friends again. I waved good bye &stepped out the gates & back into the open world.

Right outside, waiting for me were my best friends, Moon & Hikari.

"I thought you guys will be going before me?" I asked.

"We figured we should leave as a family." Ryuu said with a small smile. I blinked & chuckled at them.

"So, when will we be back?" Salem asked.

"You're just asking that cause' you want to see the girls again." I said pointedly & he looked at me with an exaggerated shocked expression.

"No!...maybe a little…" he mumbled making all of us laugh.

"Well, I guess when there's big trouble mainly when Orochimaru returns. That man needs to be punished for his actions. Not just with me but with the other humans too." I said while we walked.

"We'll be ready then." Arata snickered. I smiled at them & we headed home.

I don't feel that sad anymore. Since I still have my family right here.


End file.
